


Double Trouble!

by Tea_is_Not_Them



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Archivist Sasha James, Canon-Typical Worms (The Magnus Archives), Canon-typical Miscommunication, Codependency, Developing Friendships, Elias Bouchard Being a Bastard, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, M/M, Major Character Injury, Male-Female Friendship, Mostly JonSasha Friendship hours, Multi, Paranoia, Pining, Slightly Unhealthy, Spooky shenanigans, Two Archivists, Violence, slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 71,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25508971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_is_Not_Them/pseuds/Tea_is_Not_Them
Summary: It starts with a statement. Then it doubles with a second voice.Jonathan Sims and Sasha James made a rather good team.
Relationships: Basira Hussain/Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Georgie Barker/Melanie King, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist/Tim Stoker, Sasha James/Tim Stoker
Comments: 833
Kudos: 311





	1. Two for One Deal

**Author's Note:**

> I love Ms. James and she has the braincell. Bad things still happen even if they happen less.
> 
> Social medias!
> 
> Insta: tea_is_not_them  
> Tumblr: tea-is-not-them  
> Tiktok: teaisnotthem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: Double trouble is a multichapter fanfic written and distributed by
> 
> Again, I am doing some housekeeping on this fic, so this is both chapter one and two combined into one. I am sorry for confusion!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: WORMS, jane prentiss, Hospitals, spooky shit

It starts with a statement. It starts with one file, one tape recorder. Except it doesn’t. It starts with a double, a second that shouldn’t exist but still did. Jonathan Sims started the Head Archivist job reading and getting a headache after every single one. Sasha James started the unknowing job of Second Archivist as she started reading a statement a week as well. 

To the surprise of both of them, they had found that she was quite good at it. Both of them had clear voices and could read the statements with ease into an old tape, their voices flowing like a river, twisting around tales. It had become a silent agreement that both of them would read a statement a week, for efficiency. Together they recorded much more than they would have if only one person recorded, doubling the output, which had pleased Jon’s monster of a work ethic.

Jon had let Sasha borrow his office when she recorded, doing inane filing or even taking his lunch break. Usually he could be found bitching about the system, but that was not new, and they all had issues with the horrendous state of the place. There were papers and files strewn about like Gertrude could have cared less.

Sasha quite liked the arrangement. She was practically a second head archivist, her opinions respected by Jon and everyone else, which was the best she would get out of the situation, with Elias being the kind of person he was. Jon had actually been less of an ass lately, which could be counted as a win for everyone.

Slowly the both of them worked through the archives, being able to stomach more than one statement a week. There was a bit of concern that now that Jon could do a few a week that she would be asked to stop recording. Instead Jon just hummed at every tape that she left on the desk, both of them slightly excited to be getting through these things faster. Sasha believed in this stuff of course, though Jon seemed to just want to get through with it.

Sasha didn’t know when she and Jon had started actually getting closer. It may have been when she dragged him off to lunch a few times. Maybe it had been their mutual diligence in work. Or perhaps it was the banter over the tape recorders and how things were worded, word pronunciation being a common argument between them, then it usually turned into making fun of weird ways of saying things.

Her devious plan of getting him to come out to the assistant drinking night was going to happen she knew. It was a long con, at least that's what Tim called it. 

It was the middle of the night when she woke up from a dream about Martin. He had been sick for a week but the dream had terrified her for some reason, and she called a random contact, her mind too addled with worry to care who, on her phone. She needed to let someone know. 

“Sasha!”

It was Jon tired and annoyed voice,in the background she hears traffic, “Jon I-”

“Martin-”

“Yes! It’s about Martin. It’s stupid but-”

“Wait you-”

Sasha took a breath, calming herself down. This was about a dream, “You first, what about Martin?”

There was a pause, “It’s stupid. I just had a terrible feeling, like I just knew, and then you called.”

“I just had a dream about Martin. Also a stupid feeling.” Jon laughed at the other end, it sounded a bit wired, as if he was now nervous. 

“A sudden intrusive thought about worms?” 

Sasha went quiet, “Yes actually. Had a dream where there were worms trying to get into his flat.”

“Small white ones?” Jon actually sounded serious. Both of them went silent as she said an affirmative. 

“It has to be a coincidence.” He didn’t sound so sure about his own conclusion and Sasha wanted to throw something at him. 

“No this is spooky happenings, as Tim would put it.” There was a scoff and Sasha huffed a laugh, Jon hated that word. “Honestly Jon I really am worried. Don’t tell me you aren’t.”

There were a few seconds of silence and then a sigh, “I’ll meet you at the indian place Tim loves if you’re actually worried, we can go check and make sure no worm people are outside of his flat.”

Sasha smiled, “Yeah, see you in a bit. I’ll bring a can of bug spray in case.”

There was definitely an eye roll as he hung up without saying goodbye. She snickered, before standing up to get dressed and start walking. It hit her that Jon was awake at this ungodly hour and picked up his phone after a solitary ring. She could chew him out for it after they had checked up on Martin’s flat, she had a terrible feeling about it.

\-----

Meeting at the indian place went as it would have been. Jon’s face was scrunched as she shined a light on his face, putting a hand up to save his eyesight.

“This is a fool errand Sasha.” He said in lieu of a hello. She rolled her eyes. 

“You’re worried too. Also did you just leave off work?” She noticed he was still wearing the same clothes from the day. Jon pointedly did not look at her and she huffed, “you really should take better care of yourself you dick.”

“Language.”

“Whatever. To Martin’s flat, then you need to go home and shower and sleep.” Jon hummed, and she glared at him just to push the point further. He raised his hands in defeat, he honestly knew better than to argue, and it was late, no need to attract unwanted attention. 

They walked and talked about work, slowly the subject went to Sasha’s recent dating failures, to Tim’s flirtations with the staff, to Martin’s sickness. The streetlamps started going farther apart as their footsteps hit the pavement. It was slightly chilly, which was normal weather. Sasha was walking slightly ahead, her being the one who knows where Martin lives. As they got closer they got quieter, something starting to prick at their baby hairs.

The last street came up and Sasha gasped. Jon’s eyes flicked around, trying to find the source of her distress and saw that there was a woman outside a flat. Worms were piled around a door that Jon guessed was Martin’s. Jon couldn’t hold in his own noise of surprise and fear. The woman turns and catches sight of both of them. 

The woman only grins, mouth full of wriggling crawling things, shambling to the edge of the pavement. Worms start leaping and going after Jon and Sasha. Sasha comes out of her short lived stupor and screams, grabbing Jon’s hand and darting. He runs after her, the connection of their hands forcing him along, adrenaline pounding through his ears as the sound of squelching worms imprints on his brain. 

They were at Sasha’s flat, both frantically checking backwards and seeing no worms. Jon looks down and lets out a cut off mixture between a scream and a gasp before slamming his hand over his mouth. There were a few worms attached to their legs, feasting on flesh, having burrowed through clothes like seeking leeches.

Sasha and Jon got into the flat and closed the door, locking it before Sasha dropped down to her knees and tried to get the worms off of Jon, who was protesting at being the first one before giving a quick intake of breath. He shoved his arm over his mouth, biting down to hide the scream that came with Sasha’s nail grabbing the tail end of a flesh eating worm. She cussed before dropping it and Jon stepped on it. There was no time to be annoyed at having to clean up the smeared guts as they were both shaking from fear still.

“Let me get something to take these out-” She said and stumbled into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit.

When she comes back Jon is sitting down with his pants legs rolled up, three more worm corpses on the floor. There were only two more and he couldn’t grab them with just his fingers, and Sasha tore them out with viscous precision. Jon took the tweezers and took out the burrowing things from her leg. Sasha’s eyes watered at the feeling and she was keeping her sleeve in her mouth to muffle the gasps of sudden pain. 

Jon patched her leg up with the exactness of someone who knew their way around a first aid kit. He took care of himself as Sasha dialed up Tim.

“Sasha, what time is it?” Tim’s groggy voice came from the line. It took three tries before he picked up after all, and his voice was tight with annoyance. 

“Me and Jon just got attacked by worms.” After a second she turned to see Jon hissing at the feeling of peroxide on the bloody wormholes. 

There was a quick movement from the other end, “Where are you two?” His voice was a smidge frantic, worried she would say.

“Uh, my flat, it’s ok now but-”

‘I’m heading over, don’t do anything stupid.” Then a second beat and then his voice was loud enough that Sasha jerked her face away from the phone, “Jon that means you too!”

Jon looks up as Tim hangs up, “So. We saw that.”

“It seems you’re wrong about the supernatural.”

Jon huffed, “I knew it was real.”

Sasha was taken aback, “What? Resident skeptic?”

“Thought that maybe if I didn’t acknowledge it, it would become less real. I was wrong, ok. When should Tim be getting here?” His brows were knit together as he brought his rolled pant’s legs back down to his ankle. 

“Probably ten if he speed-walks. Is there anyone we can call about the worms?” Sasha tapped through the screen of her phone in thought.

“Remember the Timothy Hodge case?”

“Yes! So the ECDC?”

“I think they are best equipped. I think that was Jane Prentiss, so mention that if you call them.”

Sasha nods, standing up to make the call and wait for Tim. Jon placed his hands on his face with a large sigh. She paces and when someone picks up she relays the information, address, flat number, and amount of worms. As soon as Jane's name was dropped, the woman who picked up the call got very serious and told her that there would be people on the way to the location. 

When she hung up there was an incessant knocking on the door and Sasha opened it to see Tim. He came into the apartment and hugged Sasha tight. Jon watched, his eyes were almost far away, as if he was thinking.

“Why were you two out getting attacked?” Tim asked.

Jon looked embarrassed and Tim made a face, his eyes flicking from Jon to Sasha. His eyes wide, and mouth ajar slightly as if he had come to a conclusion. Sasha scoffed and pushed his chest playfully at the unsaid accusation. 

“I had a bad dream about Martin and called Jon on accident and he said he had a sudden bad feeling. Then we met up to go check on him, only to be attacked by worms.”

Jon looks down at his phone as it buzzes. It's a worm emoji and he laughs incredulously, brows downturned. There was another text, about her favor being done. 

“Jane has Martin’s phone.” He came to the realization before looking up to see Tim and Sasha looking at him bewildered and concerned. He showed them the texts, and the three of them sat in silence. 

“We are gonna have to talk about this with Martin later.”

\---------

The hospital lets both Jon and Sasha go back to work after a week of tests and quarantine. Jon waited outside Sasha’s room, not wanting to walk past all the doctors alone, the doctors whispering about worms and how lucky they were to be alive. The stares from other sectioned sick people, doctors who knew the supernatural and their eyes watched as if waiting for both of them to explode or turn up dead.

Sasha came out wearing her own clothes instead of the hospital ones. She was relieved to be in clothes that didn’t show her entire ass, and she was rocked on the balls of her feet as they waited for the final paperwork to be over. Jon was similarly there, picking at the hem of his sleeve and avoiding eye contact.

Outside the hospital Sasha sighed in relief, her face relaxing, “Finally out of there. I need a real shower and takeout.”

Jon nodded, but his eyes were farther away and Sasha groaned. He looked up with a raised brow and she gave a stern face, mouth pulled in annoyance.

“Lets go get food. Then you’re going home. No working until Monday.”

“But we need to know and Martin-” Sasha raised a finger to silence him, though he tried to talk again even when she let out a loud exaggerated groan again.

“No. We need rest, and you need to eat something. We can all pool out ideas on Monday when everyone is ok and not straight out of the hospital. No arguing, we are going to get chinese takeout and then I personally will escort you home.”

Jon made a face, but finally his shoulders dropped from defensive mode, “Yeah fine. I’ll pay.”

“Good I don’t have my wallet on me.”

This got a disbelieving laugh, and Sasha playfully pushed Jon. The shorter man waved a hand at her, as if to shoo her like a pesky fly, and she snorted.

The chinese takeout was good, and they sat on a public bench eating in almost silence. After all the food was gone Jon stood and stretched. Sasha winced in sympathy at his back popping.

“I will actually head home. These clothes smell like hospital and they only have generic white woman hair shampoo there, my hair feels horrible.” Jon complains and Sasha commiserates. The hospital shampoo was bad enough that she forwent any kind of hair washing and she felt gross with a capital G. Sasha lets him walk home on his own but tells him if she hears he was at work that she would whack him with a tape recorder, Jon concedes the point by pretending he didn’t hear her.

\------

Monday rolls around dreary, clouds rolling in to herald a gloomy raining day. The wind picked up and Jon glared at his terrible umbrella, silently cursing it out for being almost not worth opening up. The walk to the tube was enough to make Jon scowl. The dismal look on his face, eyes still tired from struggling to sleep with the feeling of worms and rot and teeth under his skin.

He looks up as he makes it to the doors of the Magnus Institute, waving to Rosie halfheartedly before walking down the stairs, peeling off his coat and turning it so that water wouldn't get anywhere. There was noise in the breakroom, quite talking and clicking of ceramic mugs on the counter. Jon sets his coat in his office, finding it a bit rummaged through.

He was a bit miffed that Sasha had been in there before feeling weird. How had he known Sasha was in the office. Then he shook himself, she was the only one who shared the office. Tim and Martin wouldn’t go through anything would they?

Before paranoia and questions ate at him he left the office, closing the door quietly behind him. His footsteps were light, as they always were, and the light in the breakroom was shining as if the bulb had just been replaced. He peeked through the doorway to see the three assistants sitting down and talking. It was quiet and amicable.

When they noticed him walking in, Sasha turned. He gave a halfhearted brow raise and sat down, ready to let them continue. It seemed like something they should all talk about, the worms.

Jon cleared his throat, “Uh. Are you alright Martin?”

The question made Martin go a bit red and Jon briefly wondered if he was sick. Tim raised a brow and elbowed martin before answering for him.

“He’s alright, the worms didn’t get him. Jane Prentiss was gone before the ECDC could get her.” Tim was surprisingly serious sounding. Martin nodded before setting his phone on the table. It had the texts from Jane to Jon, which Martin had not yet deleted. That solved the question of if Martin got his phone back at least.

“Ok. So let's talk about Sasha’s weird dream premonition.”

Sasha sighed, giving Tim a Look. He shrugged it off and Jon sighed.

“Well I just had a dream where a woman was knocking on Martin's door and worms were crawling up the walls.” She goes quiet, “It was like I was seeing it without being there. Jon said he had the same thing happen.”

“I did not say that.” Jon argued before shrinking away from the eyes of the other three, “Just a bad feeling. As if I knew something was wrong.”

Sasha nodded, “So we went to check and then Martin was trapped by the exact thing we both ‘saw.’”

“That’s spooky.” Tim said, trying to lighten the mood. Jon glared and that got a laugh from Martin and Sasha.

Martin took a breath, his hands fidgeting with his mug, “Well. I found her in the Carlo Vittery basement. The Ghost Spider one? She followed me to my flat, and I realized I dropped my phone. Then I was stuck. Thank you for coming to check on me though! I really am grateful.”

“It’s no problem.” Sasha replied, instantly. She gave him a smile.

Jon watched the interaction and looked confused, “Do you have anywhere to stay?”

“I’ve been staying with Tim actually. Uh thank you Tim.” Martin gave a grateful smile to said man, who just patted his shoulder.

“No worries, you’d do the same.”

Jon hummed, he still felt a bit like an outsider to their close friendship, even if he has known Tim and Sasha for a long time. It was different to be in a group than to have a one on one friendship he supposed. He went to stand but Sasha grabbed the edge of his sleeve, pulling him back down. He went back easily, but made a face at her.

“What are we going to do about this?”

Jon’s brows knit together in confusion, “What do you mean?

Sasha put a hand over her eyes in annoyance, “Jane Prentiss.”

“What is there we can do? She’s not here anymore.” Then Jon goes quiet, thinking. Slowly it dawns on him what Sasha meant and he sighed, “I’ll look through statements and see if there are anymore on her, or weaknesses. Suppose that’s what we all should do.”

Sasha nods, “I’ll take shelves 1-4, Martin can take 5-8, Tim take 9-13.”

Jon hums, “And I’ll take selves 14-18. Do we have anywhere we will put the Jane ones if we find them?”

“If you clear off your mess of a desk-”

“Excuse you it’s our desk practically-”

“-Shut up. If you clear off our desk we can put all important ones there.” Sasha stands up.

Jon looks at Tim and Martin. Martin still looks shaken from everything and he wondered if Martin was struggling to get sleep like he was. Tim’s face was full of both determination and something else Jon can’t quite make out.

“What about recording?”

Sasha groans, “Forgot about that. We can take turns. You read one today and I read one tomorrow. Switch off and all that.”

Martin pipes up, “What about follow ups?”

“We can burn that bridge when we get to it.”

“We won’t actually burn anything in the archives.” Jon says, slightly serious and slightly joking. Sasha rolls her eyes and Tim laughs.

“Off you go to read.” Sasha shoos Jon off and the three assistants start their work as the door to the Head Archivists office shuts.

\------

Jon finished the statement, it left a weird taste in his mouth. This had been a longer one, with follow up already there for him to comment on. He didn’t feel much like trying to act like a skeptic again, when Sasha listened back to the tapes she always gave him looks. It was fair, maybe he shouldn’t let his feelings get into work but also work is the reason Jon has some fresh new scars.

He stands after shutting the tape recorder off, dusting himself off with his hands. It was so dirty in the room, no matter how many times he tried for a weekend cleaner to come in. Sasha had once thrown her phone in annoyance with Elias after he denied the request again, probably for the ten hundredth time.

He opened his office door and peeked out. He had cleared the desk off, putting the files in the desk drawn not full of stationary. Wasn’t a perfect solution but he was honestly surprised that there was any room on the shelves. There were files everywhere.

Sasha was sitting in her wheeled desk chair in front of her shelf section, her mouth moving as she silently read and skimmed. Martin was standing, full of nervous energy as he looked through statements. Tim looked tired already. Jon wondered if the statements were taking a lot from them even as they skimmed it.

Jon went to his shelf area, wondering if he should drag his own chair over. Instead he went on a mission to find the damned step stool, because he could not reach the top three shelves.

\-----

Sasha came out of her daze with Tim checking in on her. She looked around, taking a deep breath, she was reading a statement, not out loud but she knew she had been. Tim looked grateful that she finally answered his shakes. His eyes were full of worry though.

“Lunch? I know you could go for hours but us mere mortals need to eat.”

Sasha almost declined straight away before shaking herself, that was unlike her to think. Against that small thought she smiled softly and nodded.

“Martin and Jon coming with?”

“Martin is trying to get Jon as we speak. Hope he doesn't yell at him again.” Tim winces in sympathy. Jon hadn’t been yelling lately, but they remembered how sad Martin got the first few weeks with Jon’s cold exterior.

Sasha hums, standing and letting out a noise of pain. Her back was killing her. As she did, she looked over to see Martin and Jon walking over. Jon held a few files in hand, gesturing at them.

“Uh. These are frighteningly similar to Jane Prentiss, might hold some importance.” He goes to walk off to the office, “I’ll set these down and come back.”

“Better come back. You hole up in that office and I’m breaking the door down.” Tim jokes. Jon rolls his eyes, opening the door and leaving it wide open just to prove a point. Petty bastard.

They chose a small cafe, just to sit in a group and recover from the work day so far.

“I never realized how depressing it is down there.” Jon comments offhandedly and Sasha wonders if he ever had a sense of self preservation.

Tim laughs, “It’s totally spooky boss, we are down in the archives away from everything, it's dark and dusty and full of spooky ghost stories.”

“Rather unsettling place.” Martin responds, “Feels like you’re being watched.”

Sasha nods, “Yeah. That one painting of Jimmy Magma really looks like a creeper.”

Jon makes a face, “Jimmy Magma?”

“It’s what we call Jonah Magnus.” Sasha twirls a stray hair on her finger, tugging a bit. Jon still looks confused but lets the matter go. Soon they were all down the street, opening the door to the cafe to order something. The line was a bit long but not terrible, as a reasonable lunch time passed a bit ago.


	2. Interlude AKA Victorian Whore's thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is short. I'm about to time skips so I wanted to put a lil interlude about this nasty bitch's thoughts. I hate this man so much!

Elias had taken to checking in on his Archivist throughout the days, when he was bored or wasn’t busy with something else. Jon wasn’t supposed to be too far along with his becoming only just starting out, still winded and in pain from one statement, and Elias had trusted that he hadn’t gone and done something stupid, like unknowingly derail all of his well laid plans.

And yet. 

He watched as his Archivist let someone else work alongside him, the woman who had put in for the Head Archivist job, one that Elias had turned his gaze from. Elias hadn’t chosen her for many reasons. She knew how to handle herself around dangerous things, from a year in Artifact Storage duty. Sasha James kept a level head, even if she was terrified out of her mind, which made it hard for anything to keep stern with her. There was a bit in common between her and Gertrude and that was problematic to his vision.

He only allowed it because the Eye was curious. Though if his patron wanted to know, he was not going to go against it’s wishes. Sasha James had some good traits for the job along with the bad, the curiosity burned the same as Jon’s. There was trusting her gut, which led her into impulsiveness, making decisions quickly. She cared so much about people, and while he wouldn’t have gone for it originally, he can see that he has something he can use against her, should he need to. Having a backup was never a bad thing wither, even if she was not his choice pick.

This development led to his frequent checking in on both of them, watching their progress. At first it had been slow, careful as they both started their journey along the path of Knowing, but soon they were growing voracious, like hungry ivy crawling closer to the sun. The Eye becoming important to their lives. They were further along than he had expected, and it wasn't getting in the way of any of his plans. Though he watched closer just to make sure that he wouldn’t miss if one of them did something out of place. Now that there were two it could be easy to dispatch of one if they decided to play games with him.

Jon was slowly becoming less of an isolationist, which was a bit irritating to Elias. He was getting closer to his coworkers, caring too much, trusting the other Archivist with his life. He missed watching the paranoia. 

Elias feels a bout of curiosity one night and checks in only to see that Sasha James had Seen something, and Jonathan Sims had Known. The phone call only made Elias surer of their progress, his mouth curling into a grin. There was no turning them back now, on the path to becoming. The Eye was curious.

He made sure that Jane Prentiss knew that she was done with her duty. He had called in a favor with her and now that both are marked she could leave his institute and employees alone. Jane had smiled with her disgusting voice and nodded, shambling away to infect the next poor soul. Then he paid her no more mind, her part played perfectly.

Elias had some issues with two Archivists at first, but now he thinks there is something to gain from the idea.


	3. Exploration and Case Files

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapters working title was: MarTim are on the case and JonSasha lost the braincell
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: Police Mentions, Jane Prentiss Mentions, Spooky Eye Powers, Paranoia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember if you want to yell at me you can check out my social medias, and if you have any critism please be nice I am fragile (Just kidding)
> 
> Chapter Five is already being written so >:3 Enjoy Double Archivist Dumbassery
> 
> Also I made it so that Sasha knew Gertrude better this time around, Bc Sasha-Gertrude Friendship rights :D

The archives were slowly getting more organized, bit by agonizingly slow bit, thanks to the paranoia of all four archival staff. Martin had taken to stress cleaning everything, dusting and cleaning and making tea. Tim was still going through statements. They had a whole shelf dedicated to Filth and Gross Things, like bugs and rot and sickness, where any Jane Prentiss Statement that ended up not useful went to be useless out of the way.

It was when Sasha offhandedly commented that Martin’s lease expired, the third week into staying with Tim, that Tim and Martin started getting suspicious.

Jon and Sasha had started taking lunch together more often, pouring over statements that only the two of them had read and understood, talked about filing systems and which one would work best. Both of them enjoyed the weirdest academia. That wasn’t the suspicious thing though, because their friendship was probably a good thing for the both of them. Sasha needed to be able to nerd out and Jon was always a pretty lonely guy. 

No, the strange thing was they had a running list of the things that Jon and Sasha seemingly randomly knew, things that they probably shouldn't know but still did, such as the lease expiring to martin’s flat. Or where Tim’s keys were. It was also uncanny how well they could guess at a statement giver’s experience. 

Tim and Martin sat in the breakroom, watching Jon and Sasha animatedly talking. They were both gesturing and looked excited, it was like a mutual infodump. As they continued their talking they started talking over each other, making the conversation a bit jumbled, their words mixing together like blended fruit until finally they finished the sentence. Their words were exactly insync, like the twins from the Shining. 

It was unsettling to hear both of their voices say the same sentence and then look at eachother and nod. Then they turned back to what they were seemingly doing before, Jon pulled out a file from its folder and grabbed a grainola bar before heading to his office, Sasha fished her store bought cold brew from the fridge.

\-----

Sasha knocked gently on the office door only once before Jon’s voice called a quick, ‘come in.’ She stood next to the desk, tapping her fingers on the wood as Jon wasn’t actually looking up from whatever he was reading through. He was chewing on a pen and tapping his foot, eyes speeding through words.

“There are tunnels under the Institute.” She said, looking at the closed office door, hoping that neither Tim nor Martin heard. This made Jon look up with eyebrow raised, she took this as cue to explain, “Found them while looking for the statement on the Anatomy Kids?”

“I know the one. The tooth apple is in artifact storage.” Jon hummed, hands idly rubbing paper between his forefinger and thumb. It was a nice texture. 

“Yes well, found out there's a trapdoor, I found a way in-”

“-You picked the lock.-”

“-I picked the lock. Anyway, there are tunnels down there.”

Jon nodded, eyes defocusing in thought. Sasha knew he wouldn’t be able to resist the curiosity and maybe she just didn’t want to go alone. She was a bit surprised to see how she chose Jon. There had been a time where she went to Tim for everything, but now she found herself trusting Jon with this. Though it wasn’t a bad thing, Jon’s gotten better at being a friend. 

“I have a feeling you want me to come investigate with you?” he asked, tapping a pen to his lips as he fixed a grammatical error on a statement, making an annoyed noise.

Sasha hummed in affirmative, twirling a stray pen in her fingers as well, earning her a huff for stealing stationery, “Are you telling me Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute does not want to investigate the suspicious tunnels under the institute? Are you not curious?”

Jon rolled his eyes, “You can be very annoying.”

“Yes I can be.”

There was a few seconds of quiet, the sound of a pen scratching paper being the only noise before Jon sighed exasperated, “Yes alright what’s your plan?”

Sasha grinned, “Glad you asked.”

\----

“That’s expired.” Tim heard from behind him. Jon was standing at the sink, not even looking at the fridge. It was so offhanded that Tim wondered if Jon even noticed he said it. When he looked at the milk though, opening the cap and smelling it he cringed and gagged. Gross. Ok. He poured that down the drain. That is another for the spooky list, knowing something without even looking at it.

\---- 

The tunnels were damp and gross. Jon held the flashlight, Sasha holding a knife and a fire extinguisher just in case anything goes wrong. They were both still paranoid about worms. Sasha was the strongest of the two, which wasn’t much of a feat. They both shuddered at the humidity, their hair frizzing.

“I should be more worried that you lured me down here to kill me.”

Sasha laughs, “Like Cask of Amontillado. Come down to the tunnels Jon I have wine.”

Jon huffs, the chains on his glasses clicking against the lenses, “Yes a nice red before I stab you to death and leave your body here in the tunnels.”

“You like red wine?” Sasha asks and Jon looks at her as if daring her to saything rude. Sasha wasn’t judging, but it was a good thing to know.

“Yes I do.” He pointed the flashlight at her face and she hid her eyes with a glare.

The walls were dark and it could have felt claustrophobic in the tunnels, the deeper you go the less brick and more dirt there was. The stone giving way to the earth, Sasha had made sure to write down the direction back, as there was no phone reception and she wasn’t about to get them both trapped down there. Death by starvation or something would be a shit way to go.

Jon commented on the state of the floors, complaining slightly about getting his work shoes dirty. Sasha commiserated, her own work shoes were going to need a good scrub down. Her clothes would too, she should have thought about wearing nice clothes down there. She was going to have to do laundry early so the first wouldn’t stain.

“Have you tried the hair product I recommended? The mousse?” She made the crickling motion, before pushing her glasses back up her face.

“Yes actually. It worked surprisingly well.”

“Surprisingly? It’s what I use everyday, and my curls look gorgeous.You mock me Sims.” She huffed and Jon rolled his eyes. His free hand came up to instinctively touch his hair.

“It’s late. We should get back up, I want to get a shower before passing out.” Jon announced. Sasha hummed and started leading them both out of the tunnels, their footsteps echoing in the long hollow walls under their place of work.

\--

“Hey have you seen the-” 

“Daniel Stodgers Case?” Jon finished.

Sasha nodded, as he reached to the shelf and took off one file that sat alone. She took it gratefully, both unaware of the weird looks they were getting from Martin and Tim as their conversation flowed onto the topic of the case. 

“Buttonhole Books-”

“Shut down way before the statement, it wasn’t even at the location he gave..” Sasha amended. 

Jon nodded as acknowledgement before pointing back to the paper that she held, “Antonia Renoylds has been missing since 2004 December. Her shop closed down after a month, no one taking it over.”

Sasha’s face folds in concentration, “Yes and she went missing after a trip to the circus with her family.”

“Supposedly she runs Buttonhole Books but there is no evidence of anything Mr. Stodgers says except the address to the abandoned building that had ‘living dolls’.” he made quotation marks with his fingers.

“Yes and the books he bought from the place were all from the Library of Jurgen Leitner, the records were just of people screaming for hours.”

Jon and Sasha continued to talk, words overlapping as they both started drawing conclusions. Daniel Stodgers currently wouldn’t say anything to anyone, having gone mute since the incident. They exchanged papers and then went quiet.

The way their sentences wove together was unsettling, as if they pulled words right from the others mouth. Ideas dancing together like bleeding colors, stopping right at the perfect time to let the other get in their two cents. It gave Tim a headache, and made Martin's head spin. They added it to the spooky chart, which they kept in Martin’s desk. 

\---

Jon descended into the darkness holding the torch in his mouth, both hands used to climb down the old metal ladder. The light glittered against the dust particles in the air as he dropped down and landed on his feet with a thud and a muffled oof. He moved a few feet so Sasha could come down behind him. She landed with a solid thump and then patted his head, as he took the torch out from his teeth. Jon gave a questioning noise and she pointed to the knife in her boot and picked up the mini extinguisher they kept down there.

Sasha squints and looks around, “It seems a bit lighter down here actually. Do you think someone has put lights down?”

“No?” Jon makes a face. They had been down there a few more times after the first, well enough to know the place semi-decently. They both had gotten changed in separate bathrooms after work, because it got hot in the tunnels fast and getting their work clothes dirty was just not productive. Laundry was neither of their favorite chores.

Sasha hummed, but it really did seem lighter in the room. She used to struggle to see a few feet in front of the flashlight but now she could see the end of the hallway-tunnel they were in, right until it turned left and the straight path ended, a good yard away.

“We should try and check out somewhere different today.” She suggested offhandedly.

“Ah sounds alright.” Jon replied, he looked around and then he piped up again, “Yeah you’re right it is brighter in here.”

“Told you.” Sasha gloated.

The torch had lower settings, it being a nicer one. Jon set it on the lowest setting it could go and they kept walking, still seeing as well as they had with the brightest torch setting. Instead of turning left like they usually did, they made a right, going to explore the other branches of the ever-winding tunnels. There was stone lining this wall, coarse and rigid. Jon smoothed his hand over it, running his fingers over the texture, before catching back up with where Sasha had stopped dead in her tracks.

She dropped the extinguisher, the metal making a thud as it rolled away, hitting the wall and stopping.

There was the body of Gertrude Robinson, cold and dead, with three bullet holes in her chest. 

They ran back upstairs, slamming the trapdoor behind them. Jon frantically looked for his phone, patting himself down, but Sasha was the one to find hers first, dialing 911. It was going to be a long night...


	4. And It Grows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon and Sasha are close as siblings, a paranoid unit. They can only trust eachother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that if youd like you can hate mail me on social media!
> 
> Triggers and Warnings for this part: Police Brutality Mentions, Mentions of Hate Crimes, Paranoia, Alcohol. 
> 
> Be safe and have fun!

The two of them met the police outside the institute sitting on the bench outside, both processing the day, Sasha shaking. She had known Gertrude, they had talked a good few times, Sasha had even looked up to the older woman. Jon had her in an awkward half hug, trying to be comforting. 

It took approximately ten minutes for Jon to spot the cop cars, he twisted a strand of his hair around his finger again and again and bit his lip because of nerves. 

Jon had texted Tim and Martin, before he completely shut off his phone so as to not get distracted while talking to the police. Sasha still looked on the verge of tears, and he held her hand close to make sure she wouldn’t get swept away by police or feelings. 

They were met with a team of police officers who started asking where they found the body. Jon told them the tunnels underneath the institute, and then was promptly told that if he was lying to cut it out. He bristled a bit before Sasha carefully told them they were not lying, that there were honey to god tunnels under this old place. Jon then had to tell them that they had been down there exploring, no they had not known about the body before twenty minutes ago, yes they had been down there multiple times, and yes Jon would show them the way down there, and no he had no weapons on him.

Sasha sat down in the lobby as he showed them the tunnels, and when he came back up, Tim and Martin were being accosted by the police. Jon sat next to Sasha who had finally let herself cry. He patted her back, trying to be soothing and probably failing, before looking up at the police who were going to ask the same questions at least thirty times. 

After that barrage, there were two women. Officer Alice Tonner and Detective Basira Hussain. The way the officer was looking at them made Jon feel a bit like a hunted animal, her eyes staring them both down as if she thought they were armed and dangerous. Jon looked away, feeling like he shouldn’t antagonize what looked like Madame Police Brutality and her partner Missus Coverup. 

“Alright we’ll be asking some more questions, you know. Protocol.” Detective Hussain said, looking at her notepad. She looked uninterested, while Officer Tonner was intently watching them.

“Can you tell us where you were the week of Ms. Robinson’s disappearance?” 

Jon blinked a few times, remembering in detail, “Working Research. On a case about a woman supposedly filled with moths, I was working with Tim Stoker.” 

Sasha sighed, “I was working all week, in the artifact storage department. There were a few lietners I had to organize, then I went home. My neighbors can back me.”

Detective Hussain nodded, fixing her head-wrap with her free hand before writing down some key components. Jon was about to ask what Officer Tonner’s issue was, and why she was staring them both down like they had personally killed her dog. His foot was tapping with nerves, wringing his hands.

Officer Tonner nodded and then pulled Detective Hussain away, a good distance from anyone. Jon had a terrible feeling and stood up. Sasha blinked before getting up next, their eyes connecting and they both Knew the other felt that. Another police officer swept them away to check their last few details and they were sent on their way, with instructions to not leave town and that if they had forgotten anything they should call immediately. 

“Let's get out of here.” Sasha murmured as she pushed Jon along. Jon nodded.

“I have a bad feeling about those two.”

“Me too. Let's go back to my flat, I have ice cream and wine and I don’t want to be alone after that.” Sasha sighed, their footsteps thudding against the pavement as they walked as fast as they could to her building. Both of them were a bit iffy about police, and it was just a lot. Though what were they supposed to do? Not call about her body?

Sasha leaned against the door as it closed, letting out a shaky breath.

“I thought we were going to get hate crimed.” Jon said under his breath as he took off his shoes, grumbling about getting dirt on the floor. Sasha laughed out loud, more out of commiseration than actual humor. 

Finally she had the strength to stand up straight and she kicked off her shoes, leaving them in a messy pile next to Jon’s neatly placed boots.

“You can borrow some of my clothes.” She said over her shoulder as she grabs comfy pants from her dresser. 

Jon calls back from the sitting room, “Thank you. I will say that I’m glad it's a Friday.”

Sasha snorted, “Yeah I can not worry about getting to work with a hangover.”

There might have been a muffled agreement but she wasn’t listening closely.

She padded her sock clad feet against the hardwood until she got to the bathroom and closed the door. Taking her bun from her hair she brushed through it with her fingers, shaking out any debris, not in the mood for showering. Then she changed before going to find clothes small enough for Jon. Thankfully he wouldn’t get annoyed at her selection, she had a few things he wouldn’t hate. 

She threw the clothes at him and he stretched after fumbling to catch them, Jon gave a small glare as he picked the clothes up off the floor. As he went and changed Sasha decided to go get the ice cream and wine. Humming and tapping her foot, she decided against bowls and just dug out two spoons. The couch was comfortable as she sat down using her chin and shoulder to grab the blanket off the side of the couch so she wouldn’t have to set down the ice cream nor bottle. 

Jon came out a minute later with a loose What the Ghost t-shirt and fuzzy pants. He gave a thumbs up before plopping down next to her, getting comfy under the blanket as she handed him a spoon. Vanilla wasn’t the best flavor in either of their opinion but it was good enough to eat out of the carton with wine and a documentary. 

\----

Martin and Tim were cornered by police right as they came in. Martin was still staring at the text that told them that Jon and Sasha had found Gertrude Robinson’s body in the tunnels. He and Tim had almost run into each other running to their job. They saw police and they saw Jon and Sasha sitting together, Sasha crying. 

They didn’t get the chance to talk to them though. 

After the barrage of questions they were stopped by two women asking where Jon and Sasha went. Officer Tonner looked feral, ready to pull a weapon at any second, or maybe strangle them for not knowing where their friends had even gone, and Martin was stuttering by the end of the interaction. Tim dragged Martin out of the building as they interrogated Mr. Bouchard. Tim took out his phone, noticing the cops interrogating them had kept them for thirty minutes.

Tim dialed up Sasha, and she answered on the third ring sounding sleepy and drunk. 

“Where are you two? You just left us to be interrogated!”

Sasha grumbled at his tone, and he could hear Jon in the background asking who it was, “M’flat Tim. Went to get drunk and eat ice cream because we found a dead body.”

“Yeah we know.”

Sasha huffed, “Don’t get mad. The Missus and Missus Cop Horror Story looked like they wanted to kill us. Sorry we left, thought she was gonna hurt’s.”

Tim softened at her, not being able to stay angry at Sasha for long, “Ok ok. Fine. We can talk tomorrow. Just be safe ‘kay Sash?”

“Mhm. Night Tim. Night Martin!” Martin said goodnight back and Tim hung up and put his face in his hands.

Martin pat his shoulder, “Was Jon there?”

“Yeah.” He sounded a bit miserable. “I miss them you know?”

Martin sighed, “yeah I do. I miss them too.”

“What happened to the whole Archives Gang? I mean now we have a murder investigation, Jon and Sasha are acting spooky and Elias is being creepy. Can we even trust anyone anymore? What happened to us? God I need a drink.” Tim mourned. Martin nodded through the sadness and walked with Tim. They still hadn’t found a flat for Martin so he just helped pay rent while he was there, his minimal amount of things split between a few suitcases.

As the door to the flat closed behind them, Martin wondered silently, what did happen?

What was happening to make Jon and Sasha almost detach themselves, become Jon-and-Sasha, instead of two separate people. He made a rather dull comparison to twins, before Tim went to go shower. Had it been the worms that made them closer? Or was it something neither he nor Tin had noticed before? What was the discovery of the body of Gertrude Robinson going to do to life in the archives?

Martin fell asleep on the couch full of worry.

\-------

Jon woke up with the largest crick in his neck. He had somehow shifted to the floor when he fell asleep, his legs still propped up on the couch cushions. Sasha was using his calves as a pillow, her arms wrapped around them, and he squirmed so that he was laying splayed out on the floor, trying to get feeling back into his extremities. 

Sasha grumbled at the lack of pillow and sat up, blearily rubbing her eyes and yawning. 

“What time is it?” She asked through her second yawn, which sent Jon into a yawn as well. He rolled onto his stomach and got up from there, stretching his aching back. Sleeping on the floor was terrible for his spine, but good for his posture, he mused. 

He grabbed his phone from where it had landed last night in his sleeping wriggle, “Uh. Ten.” He grimaced at his voice and then again at his breath. 

“”I need to brush my teeth.”” they said at the same time, looked at eachother and huffed a laugh. 

“What did we even talk about last night?”Jon said, as he looked around the blurry room.

“Your oblivious crush on Martin.”

“I- no. I do not have a crush.”

Sasha snickered, “the archivist doth protest too much.”

Jon started searching for his glasses, finding them thankfully intact on the side table, “Head archival assistant is about to be fired.”

“You’d never. I’m your favorite. Other than Martin.”

“Horrible. I should get back to my flat-”

“-But we don’t know who killed Gertrude Robinson and you’re worried.”

Jon looked confused before he sighed and nodded, crossing his arms, “Yes actually.”

“Let’s talk about it over-”

“Indian takeout?”

“You read my mind.” Sasha grins, “I’ll lend you my black and green skirt.”

Jon smiled a little, “It’ll pair great with a What the Ghost shirt.”

Sasha nodded, “Of course it will, I know my fashion.”

They had decided on walking to the place, feeling like the tube was too packed with people. Jon looked like a mess, and Sasha fared little better. Sasha ordered, because Jon accidentally left his wallet with his work clothes that were stashed in their office. Though they didn’t want to think about work as they took the bags of hot takeout back to the flat.

They ended up forgetting about the food as soon as they sat it down on the table, both stewing in paranoia. Sasha takes out her polaroid camera and snaps a few shots of them both, together and apart. Jon doesn’t think to question why, because she always did that after having read a few statements about a being called the Not Them.

“Who could have done it?” 

Jon’s face scrunched up in thought, brows knitting together as he chewed his lip, “It could be anyone. Could be Tim, Martin, Rosie, Elias.” He didn’t even think if it was either of them, something in their guts screaming that the other was trustworthy, someone to lean on. 

Sasha nods, leaning her elbows on the table, her chin cradled in her palm, “It could be... But we know Tim and Martin. They wouldn’t. At least, neither of them had ever actually met Gertrude, let alone have enough motivation to kill her. Could you imagine Martin shooting a gun?”

“No.” Jon huffs a laugh before putting his face in his hands, “I feel like a mess.”

“Me too.”

Jon groaned, “Of course Tim and Martin wouldn’t. That was stupid. They have no motive. Hell we have a better motive than they would have, me with the job and you knowing her best. I can’t be falling apart already can I?”

Sasha hummed, tapping her fingernails against the wood of her table, “I was thinking about it last night, while you were busy being a lightweight and crying over cats.”

“Slander.”

“I thought about it too.” They went quiet, “but I don’t think those two did it.”

Another sigh ripped from Jon’s lungs and he desperately wished he could have a cigarette, but he had quit a year ago. Sasha patted his hand and he gave her a weak smile. Jon looked up again, both feeling the weight of a murder over their heads.

“So other people. Could have been her assistants.”

“All of them disappeared, one quit though. I don’t think that could be it.” Sasha said before they both perked up, a thought entering their minds at the same time.

“”Elias.”” Their eyes met and something snapped. 

“He knew her and was her boss. He also had access to the tunnels.”

Sasha nods, “Has all control over the place, and he has an interest in the Head Archivists.” 

Jon shuddered at that, remembering how he realized Elias had hovered just this side of too much, “no one would suspect him either.”

Suddenly he slammed his hands on the table, “He said she died in the line of work!”

She gasped and stood up, running to grab a notebook and a tape recorder. The tape clicked on and they both started talking faster, words and theories mixing together, small details one or the other noticed. Sometimes they would talk insync for a few sentences before diverging again, and letting the other finish their thought. Then one would finish a sentence for the other as if the words were their own. 

“Ok. So Elias shot Gertrude, left her in the tunnels to rot, and now we are here. All we have to do is make sure he doesn’t know we know before we can find anything that shows his guilt..” Sasha looked at the mess of ink covered papers, pen smears over both of their hands, and some on Jon’s face from where he bit too hard into his pen, breaking the cartridge. Neither of them paid any mind to the mess they had made, before Sasha reached over and clicked off the tape recorder. 

Jon’s stomach made a noise like a dying man and they both remembered they would have to eat, and that the takeout was cold and the boxes covered in notebook papers.


	5. Hunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three Different POVs.
> 
> Sasha and Jon need to be ok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for this chapter include: Police Brutality Mentions (this comes with the Daisy territory guys I'm sorry), Graphic Depictions of injury, Jon getting HURT, General Fear and Such

Slowly their workplace is infiltrated by interrogations and police, absolutely crawling all over the place, making it hard to get work done. Martin and Tim always felt like something bad was going to happen. Someone was going to scream, or there would be a gunshot, or maybe a coworker would get dragged off in handcuffs, literally anything. Jon and Sasha walked around as if nothing was wrong, helped the police to the best of their abilities, gave them tapes and files and Anything that supposedly would help. 

Martin brought Jon tea, knocking carefully on the door only to see Jon in his desk chair chewing a pen and flipping through pages, the corner, using a few boxes as a desk, was Sasha doing almost the same thing. It was like looking at peter pan and his shadow, except it was their friends. 

He was thankful he still had Sasha’s mug in his other hand and he cleared his throat, “Uh. Tea?”

They both looked up at the same time and Martin almost flinched as the weight of their eyes settled, but Jon's movements differed, pen tapping his lip, “Ah. Thank you Martin, can you do follow-up for this?” He extended a folder and Martin sat down the mugs before taking it. 

“Thank you!” Sasha called behind. As the door closed, Martin felt Eyes slide off him, as if he had been being watched. Jon had said thank you though!

Tim looked up from his laptop, looking a bit tired, “Is Sasha in there?”

Martin nodded, and Tim sighed before turning back to the laptop, grabbing a jacket to go get a followup, “I swear I can’t find one without the other lately.”

\-----

It was dark out, the pavement echoing with footsteps and street lights flickering. Jon huffed, his hands clenching at every out of place noise. Sasha was walking beside him, looking deceptively calm with her phone in her hands, when he could tell she heard it too. Though they were both pretending that they did not hear the third set of footsteps, or the quiet huff of another person’s breath, the duo knew.

Sasha hums, and Jon looks up to see her typing on her phone before faking a laugh and handing him the phone. He could already tell she was on edge again. Jon takes the phone, giving a huffed laugh as a cover, seeing that she had the notes app pulled up.

“It’s the cop.” It read plain and clear. Jon nodded, handing the phone back. His hands gripped tighter to his bag strap, and Sasha put a hand on his shoulder in comfort. She was on her phone, but he could tell her eyes were flicking around, waiting, watching. 

There is a moment of silence before they both break into a run, their hands clutching the other’s. They didn’t notice how their steps lined up, mirrored, as if they had planned it. Their feet hit the pavement hard, their breaths coming out in puffs when they heard a snarl of excitement as the officer ran after them. Neither were very fast, nor were either of them in the right shoes to make a getaway, and suddenly Jon went down with a cut of yell. Sasha was jerked to the ground from where she had held onto his hand, her fingers popping. They were separated and there was something sharp on Jon’s neck. 

Officer Tonner was pining Jon down, her teeth bared as she growled. Sasha cried out as her knees slid across the pavement, tearing the skin, before standing and watching in terror for a second as the police officer’s eyes glowed with something dark and feral. She glared, feeling something protective and dangerous welling in her throat. This wasn’t fair, this woman had no right to hurt them! Sasha’s gut twisted with something vicious. 

Jon looked terrified, eyes wide as he felt the sharpness of something against his throat, the feeling of flesh splitting sent him into a shocked panic. He stayed still, eyes flickering from Tonner to Sasha, breath coming out shallow so to not dig the metal deeper. He was bleeding he thinks, but when he looked at Sasha he felt a little calmer, just knowing that she was ok made him feel a bit more stable. She looked level headed, something he had always admired about her. Just calm. He closed his eyes, blinking back tears. Jon did not want to cry in front of someone who could kill him.

Sasha was not calm. She was furious and scared and finally she snarled.

“What do you think you’re doing?” There was a static in the air. Jon’s eyes flew open as he heard it, unable to blink as he watched Officer Tonner’s own eyes go blank.

“Dispatching another pair of monsters in the world.” She said back, almost militant. Slowly her eyes started to un-blank and she pressed the knife harder and Jon yelped. He was watching but he was unable to say anything, the threat of losing his head too great. Sasha flinched at the noise of pain. 

“Why?” As Officer Tonner tried to fight this question, she found that she couldn’t, the words spilling out of her mouth unbidden. Her will is not strong enough to resist the two sets of green eyes that did not blink. 

The moment of weakness was enough for Sasha to kick the officer off of Jon, leaving her prone on the ground telling her story. Jon scrambled to get up, a hand clutching Sasha’s and the other holding his bleeding throat, the red running down his wrist staining his white shirt. There was a lot of blood and Sasha was terrified. Sasha intertwined their fingers, being careful. They were both in pain, but they watched unblinking as Officer Tonner could not stop talking, her canines looking less sharp with every syllable. 

They started running after snapping out of whatever had possessed them to watch the officers suffering. Tears and blood ran freely from the both of them as they passed signs and alleys with eyes full of suspicion. 

They could hear her finish her story, and they could hear her cursing and hear her trying to hide the fact that she felt pathetic. 

Sasha slammed the door as they both made it into the flat. Jon was halfway to the bathroom, stumbling before she stabilized him. She sat him down on the toilet seat lid and she pulled out the first aid kit. Her glasses had come off somewhere in the encounter and she prayed that her backups were still there. 

Jon was breathing heavy and his eyes were still full of panic. It was deep and she was so scared. Ths injury was sickening. It was almost like she could feel the way the separated skin touched together on her own neck as she gently cleaned the blood off, wincing in sympathy at every sharp intake of breath. Jon’s eyes were closed, him trying to be as still as possible. Sasha was quietly telling him what she was doing and what she was using, it seemed to be calming him down at least. 

Finally she used three DermaStitches and covered them with gauze. Jon gave her a weak smile, and she didn’t have to hear the words to tell that he was thankful. Then he looked her over and made a face, making her switch places with him so he could clean the large scrapes on her knees. She grimaced at the peroxide. She noticed the gauze was slowly blotting with red and she prayed that he was going to be ok.

After the bandages and everything, Sasha stood to go get them both tea. A whole conversation happened without either of them having to open their mouths. Something was weird about them now, and they would get to the bottom of it, but right now was not the time.

She couldn’t stop herself from watching Jon on the couch, checking to see if he was still breathing every thirty minutes.

\-------

Daisy Tonner knew that hunting monsters is dangerous. She could get away with a lot due to her police badge, but there still should be caution. There were hunts where she didn’t know a weakness, and those were always the ones that ended up with a tussle. She had been stupid, charging in blind and alone against a duo of them. They walked together, the shorter one fidgeting and painting a bullseye target right on his back. He was scared and that made her salivate. 

The taller one was good at hiding her fear. All the grace of a human woman walking home from work after a normal day in the office, even though their fear radiated like a heater on a cold winter day. 

When she hunted, Daisy could do a few things she wouldn’t have been able to do before. Like how she could smell the fear, or how she could see some kind of indicator of a monster’s being. An example being when she could see someone with red surrounding them, meaning they are violet, ready to kill. Or maybe how there was dirt that would never leave some monsters. She could see the outline of a mask on some monsters, as they imitate something alive and real.

Daisy could tell that these two were monsters the second she made it to the Magnus Institute call. Their eyes outlined in a glowing green, it was almost like they were a single entity split into two bodies. There were plenty of other tip offs when they were interrogated, speaking for each other, finishing sentences, mimicked mannerisms. 

She dove into her hunt while they walked. When the monsters started running, she chased, the adrenaline of keeping up with prey flowing through her freely, circulating to her arms and legs like blood. They again ran insync, both clutching the other as they ran for it. She went for the smaller one, incapacitating one, the other would go down right? That was the logic she had applied to the situation at least.

She had been wrong about that.

They both made noises of fear and or pain, disconnecting hands as Daisy held the knife closer to the male one's neck, pinning him down with full intent to slice his throat. 

Then the questions began, catching her off guard. It was like the story was ripped from her throat, the words leaving her while she was helpless. She watched as she was thrown off the pinned monster, and she watched as their glowing green eyes did not blink until she stopped speaking. 

Monsters rarely got away from Alice ‘Daisy’ Tonner, but she felt weak and used, watching the two make their getaway.


	6. Elias Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Title for this chapter was: I hate this smug bastard so fucking much I hope he gets gutted
> 
> Second Elias Interlude, a peek into the thoughts of a man trying to plan around curiosity. He watches and he grins as he sees his archivists grow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Elias. Police Mentions. Casual Thoughts of Murder

Elias knew that they had been going in the tunnels, they weren’t exactly subtle about it. It was only a matter of time before Gertrude’s body was found but he was rather annoyed that it had happened on a night he looked away, he was having a self-care day, a break. He was called to come speak to the police in the evening and he hadn’t even had a few days to formulate an alibi, no worries for him though. It had annoyed him to no end and he would complain about it for hours. 

The two of them were growing closer and closer, and that was really an issue, their bond getting much too chummy. They were getting stronger together, their powers growing. They stayed later, learning. He also noticed that they had practically moved in together, Jon still paying his own rent until his lease was up but slowly moving in with Sasha. 

Statements were scattered along them. Once one of them read it the other knew it as well, their knowledge pooling. Elias was curious. It seemed so Breekon and Hope of them, without the romantic attraction at least. They were isolating themselves from the other two though, slowly and accidentally pushing away their human connections. Elias was inordinately proud of that. 

There was an issue he ran into though, he couldn’t look through their minds anymore. A setback, but their conversations were still free game, even if more and more conversations went on just through their eyes. 

It was infuriating that they were entwined though. He knows now that if he were to kill one, the other would not reach any potential, waste away without the other half. Still they were growing how he wanted them to, and there wasn't much he could do now unless he wanted to start from scratch, and he did not want to start from scratch. Killing them both would just be a hassle after the body of Gertrude was discovered and he did not care to have any suspicion on him this early in the game.

So he let them be. Albeit, they were amusing. 

Then he watched as they stayed later and later, trying to dig something up. He had no clue but it truly didn’t matter. 

The police officers were helping mark his Archivists, it was like a perfect opportunity had just fallen into his lap without any need to lift a finger. Officer Tonner seemed like a perfect pawn. A violent hunter with intent to harm and maim, and she was frightening to the two. He watched passively as the officer interrogated his Archivists, and he watched as they Knew something bad would happen if they stayed. 

One night he was watching out of boredom as they walked home, and he noticed the she-wolf of an officer. Elias lets out a little evil chuckle, paying closer attention as they slowly try to shake off the wolf woman, running now. A terrible move honestly, though they knew that as they were tackled down and attacked at knife point. 

“Oh. Interesting.” His grin grew as his interest peaked. Jon was marked now, bleeding profusely and Sasha showed her first strays of power, ripping out the Hunter’s statement, curls of rage and protectiveness like claws. He watched as they stumbled home, watched as they patched up, and watched as Sasha went into scared paranoia over Jon’s sleeping body. 

He had to let the Voice and Gaze of the Beholding grow without his help.


	7. A conversation about identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title of this chapter: Nothing is good anymore, time to angst
> 
> Todays chapter name was the title of a song by the same name by the artist 'tea'
> 
> Jon and Sasha talk. Tim and Martin yearn. A statement is taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Healing from Injury, Mentions of Jon's anxiety, Slightly Disturbing Imagery, Unhealthy Morals
> 
> its not terrible. But being in a Breekon and Hope situation with your close friend can make you develop a bit of a bad mindset

It was a week. Jon was unable to talk for a whole week, not recording a statement, not being able to voice anything, it had made him deeply annoyed to not be able articulate his own thoughts. Sasha did well as an interpreter though thankfully, as they now knew she could tell exactly what he was thinking and vice versa. 

That was what they needed to talk about the minute Jon was healed enough to utter a word, and they needed this conversation, not in their heads. 

“We…”

Sasha finished his thought for him as he trailed off, “Aren’t human anymore.”

Jon nodded, touching the scabbed but healing slice on his throat, “We aren’t.” His voice was hoarse and he put his face in his hands. Thoughts on being inhuman was enough to send him spiralling, but he felt the calm hand on his shoulder. Sasha smiled at him gently, and he couldn’t help but smile back, warmth filling his chest. At least they were in it together. 

“But I still feel human.” Jon mutters, touching his throat, and then looking at the worm scars. Things that could only happen to humans. At least that's what impression he had been under.

Sasha’s hand moved in a soothing circle, “I do too… But that wasn’t normal.”

“No it wasn’t.” He was quiet, the rest of the words flowing from his mind to hers. “What could have done this?” 

Sasha and him stared for a minute, “Statements. We’re like the creatures from a statement, those people who encounter horrors… We read about it and it changed us.”

Jon nodded. They were quiet, the rest of the conversation passing from eye to eye. They understood each other, how strange and intense, to know someone just as deeply as they know you. 

How comforting and unsettling, to have all your issues seen and accepted, your flaws mixing and changing. How incredibly horrifying and living, to have someone so close that you could almost become them. Such a dreary trope, the one where a lover wants to merge with the other. Though Jon harbored no romantic feelings toward Sasha and she was the same with him, and neither of them liked the idea of crawling into the others' flesh. Their entire friendship becomes an oxymoron.

“The Magnus Institute is a rather horrifying encounter, I mean the HR department left me with nightmares.” Jon joked quietly, and Sasha elbowed him and snorted. Jon huffed a few laughs, letting out childish giggles. 

“Yeah looking at Elias everyday has sent me into Monsterdom. Just like the founder Jimmy Magma intended.” Jon wiped mirthful tears from his eyes and he clutched his stomach. Sasha looked proud of herself, her triumphant grin sending them both into hysterics once more.

Jon huffed through, adding his two cents, “The terrible breakroom coffee was what turned Jane Prentiss into what she was.”

Sasha was hugging herself laughing. As their giggles died off they sat in companionable silence, hands intertwined, just listening to the world around them. It was nice. Jon thinks this is what having a sibling is like though he'd never had one. They were left to their thoughts, both shared and private.

Looking back they should have realized. The mirrored mannerisms, the sudden Knowing. Of both each other's thoughts and random facts, melding words and conversations. Being able to pick out what the other meant as if they were hounds out for blood. They stared at each other and raised their right hands at the same time, fingers moving insync. Jon laughed incredulously, and Sasha laughed a little louder. 

There was something so intrinsically terrifying about changing into something else, going into a chrysalis, though not on their own, humanity is something that both of them had prided. Though changing was less scary when you had someone to care for you, less scary when you were so close to a person who understood. 

Jon had always looked up to Sasha. They had always been friends. Seeing her so sure of herself, so in charge of her change that day, saving his life, had been soothing to his soul in a weird way. The idea of them being linked wasn’t scary, nor was it terrible to think about actually, because he knew he had someone who loved him, and he loved them back. Jon had always thought of Sasha as independent, smart, well rounded.

If Sasha thought being a monster was good, maybe it wasn’t so bad.

Conversely Sasha liked being in charge of her destiny, seeing Jon visibly settle with her was nice. There was something healing about being connected to someone. It’s like family. Being able to protect those she loved, Sasha found, was a perfectly fine reason to become something more than she was. Protectiveness was not a trait she would have thought was a part of her life, but now that she looked she found it was rather prominent. 

If Jon was ok with it, was it really so terrible?

\------

The police backed off after a few weeks of little evidence to who killed Gertrude Robinson. Sasha and Jon found that it bothered them little, because they knew Elias Bouchard had done it, but he was obviously powerful enough to keep suspicion off of himself. They also knew that Elias Bouchard was a monster, something adjacent to their own selves, though they both were disgusted at the idea of being just like him. Thankfully, they could see that they were much better than that. He could Watch all he wanted, but they had a rather good system.

Jon had found he could feel when Elias tried to turn his eyes upon them, and he gleefully found that he could deflect it, like water sliding off of a duck. Not enough to tip the bastard off that they Knew, but enough for them to be almost completely untraceable by any standard. Sasha was rather good at deflecting any strongly worded questions, taking the brunt of speaking in most cases. 

Jon was rather glad she spoke. He had always been terrible with people and words, and if she wanted to talk, to be a spokesperson of sorts, all the power to her. 

It was a regular day, the two of them silently conversing while filing some things away. Jon grabbed a folder from the bottom shelf and handed it to Sasha to refile on the top shelf, their movements graceful and almost like a dance, careful ease that spoke of their connection.

The door to their office opened and Tim stood there with a woman wisped in sadness. She reeked of loneliness and something snaked around her like a wreath of grey fog. Jon felt a pang of sympathy, since he knew loneliness from before. Then a foreign feeling of hunger hit both Archivists, the feeling leading straight to their tongues and eyes. Tim was looking at them, his eyes searching. He looked sad, longing. 

“This is Naomi. Here to give her statement.” Tim announced, an aching in the back of his voice. Sasha and Jon paid little attention to that, Sasha going to lead Ms. Herne to sit down. Jon gave a nod to Tim, a small gesture. The man lingered only slightly, looking at both of them with something forlorn, before leaving the room. Attention turned from the door to where Naomi Herne sat.

“Why are there two of you?” She asked, she was curious, nervous to have the weight of their gaze on her, such a heavy difference from the lonely experience she had faced. Sasha smiled kindly. Neither of them noticed how they moved so perfectly mirrored. Jon did not smile though, just sitting down to shuffle papers together and to turn on a tape recorder. 

“Oh I’m just Head Archival Assistant. Jon’s had a nasty accident so I’ll be asking most of the questions.” She gestured to where Jon’s throat was scarred and mostly healed over. Naomi looked compassionate, her hand coming up slightly to her own throat, and Jon gave an ever so small smile. It was really only an excuse, Sasha was better with people and Jon was rather thankful she took over on that front, leaving him to theorize most things.

Sasha hummed, both sitting at the desk, “Alright Ms. Herne, are you comfortable?”

“Uh. Yes it’s nice in here.” She said, looking around. After both of them hit the filing it had slowly started to look like a homey office. She didn’t even realize she had never told the two of them her last name. 

“Oh thank you. Now. Ms. Herne, tell us your statement.”

A rush of soft static, an exhalation, and the words flowed freely. The two of them drank it in.

Jon pulled up a few therapists for Naomi, while Sasha comforted her after the experience. He wrote down their numbers, names, and where they practiced down in neat scrawl. He handed her the paper, giving a hum as she turned her attention away from the table to the paper.

“Do you think it actually happened?” Noami asked, something so soft and seeking in her voice. Her voice was hoarse, as if she had hurt herself telling her statement. 

Sasha cooed quietly, “Of course. Scary things can go after traumatized people. Our advice to find people you can talk to, family, friends, a book club. Jon’s given you a list of counsellors and therapists that you can talk to about the more mundane points, always good to keep in touch with people who care.”

Naomi smiled at them, genuinely touched. She took the paper and carefully put it in her bag before standing up, looking both drained and happier, “Thank you.”

“No problem, Tim can show you out.”

Jon fiddled with the hem of his sleeve as Sasha made herself at home in her chair again. The door closed behind her. They felt full, sated.

The door opened again to Martin holding two mugs of tea and smiling softly. He almost flinches when he catches eyes with them both, but he sets the mugs down. Now he knew better than to linger, because it usually only hurt more.

“Thank you Martin.” Jon says warmly, his voice still raggedy. He should start using it more but he was content to watch as Sasha talked most of the time. He sighed happily into the hot drink, face a tiny bit unguarded. Martin could have melted.

Sasha smiled brightly, “Thanks Martin!” 

Martin looks at the both of them, “Uh Tim wants to know if you have lunch plans?”

“We were going to order takeout, do you two want anything before I order?” Sasha asked. Martin shook his head but gave a small thanks. 

They were both quiet, sipping their tea and Jon looked into his mug, a small smile on his face and Sasha resisted the urge to tease him. Then they went back to work, talking without words.

\----

Martin and Tim obviously noticed when Jon came to work with a slit throat, and they noticed when he could not speak, they noticed how he clutched onto Sasha’s hand like a lifeline, they noticed Jon glaring at anyone who dared even look at Sasha the wrong way. It was real fucking hard not to notice actually, the inseparable two. You’d have to be denser than a box of legitimate rocks if you didn’t notice. 

They were practically a unit, Jon-and-Sasha, Sasha-and-Jon, the dynamic and slightly terrifying duo. Tim missed them, before all of this spooky business. Of course they were still themselves in a weird way, Sasha still acted like the secret jokester, the fun hidden beneath an exterior of a professional academic woman, Jon was still reserved and still acted older than he was. 

Tim and Martin felt like ghosts in their own workplace, they did their job, but now they were alone in the assistant area. Their friends had isolated themselves, working in tandem and when they did come out it was full of confident intent, moving with a purpose neither Tim nor Martin, being the mere mortals they were, could hope to understand. At least they had each other, even if both of them felt dejected. Tim had made a joke about being the homosexual supporting cast, and Martin had looked so sad they spent the rest of the day moping. 

Martin was teaching him to knit, and Tim was teaching Martin how to make a perfect stew. It was something to distract them both from the growing feeling of eyes on the back of their neck.

This place changed people. Tim thinks its for the worse.

\--------

Maybe it was the first taste of Knowing that sent them both into a frenzy of research. They had practically spent the past four nights going through boxes and boxes of old statements, critically going through them and yelling from across the archives about something they found. A growing pile of discredited statements were viciously sent to a corner to rot away, or at least, to keep out of the way until they archive them into a better spot.

Sasha gripped a folder, carefully even if it was a fake story, and hatefully put it in the box of Useless statements. They both hated that pile enough to send a shared glare of annoyance at it, before returning back to their individual tasks.

Jon carefully flicked through a whole shelf, reading them, sounding it out with his unused voice quietly, so as to not disturb the peaceful aura of the room. Out of the twenty or so he had just gone through, only three had to be moved to the useless box. He and Sasha shared a love for organizing things, their hands flicking to every different subject, something that followed them both from childhood. Jon felt safe, content even, in the stacks of Their Archives, surrounded by the knowledge that he is not alone. Cushioned by the years and years worth of unread tales.

He hums gently, and Sasha chimes in humming as well, their voices meshing together in a harmony that's slightly off, due to Jon’s scratchy voice.

The door to the Archives opens and Jon and Sasha’s heads shoot up, the humming stopping leaving only the sound of creaking hinges, their eyes almost glowing in the dim light of the archives, their gaze on the intruder.

Elias raises a brow and the two of them do not avert their gaze. They don’t blink but neither does he, slightly green hazel eyes meeting almost gold. He walks down the stairs and Jon and Sasha stand up, dusting themselves off. Jon flicks a few stray hairs out of his face and Sasha checks her bun, both of them obviously having not slept in a long while.

“How long have you two been down here?” The question was only a professional front. The three of them knew that Elias knew they had been there since three that morning, coming in much too early on a Saturday by picking the lock.

Sasha smiled professionally, “Gertrude left this place a mess. We’ve just been cleaning up. Would you like us to email you about the new filing system, or is there something else you needed?”

Elias looked amused, in his cradle of bureaucracy, he always liked how both of his Archivists were dead set on professionalism, “That would be best, yes. Would you two like keys to the building if you’re going to break in every time you work overtime?”

Jon and Sasha shared a look and then Jon nodded. Sasha hummed, “Yes thank you. That would be easier on us.”

“Of course. How's your progress?” The question felt weird, and Jon almost opened his mouth to answer before Sasha cleared her throat, acting nonchalant.

“It’s been good. We have hundreds of files, and it’ll take a long time to get everything in shape. You get that of course.” Sasha said matter of factly. Jon walks over at that point, his hand carefully on Sasha’s arm, just a light touch of encouragement. They both watch Elias, and he looks both pleased and annoyed at the verbal walk around, still he just gives a noise of agreement.

“Yes I do. I’ll get you copies of the keys tomorrow, I’ll be expecting updates. On the archives progress of course.” He smiles just this side of slimy and smug, not even hiding it. Jon gives a single wave, more out of habit than respect. As the man leaves the both of them exhale deeply.

“I’ll write the emails if you continue with filing?” Jon asks quietly, his hands twisting and fingers wiggling. She carefully takes his hands so he doesn’t start picking at skin and nods.

“Yes, budgeting too?”

Jon nods, humming, “Need to get a budget, see if I can give a raise to the Archive staff.”

Sasha snorts, “Like the bastard would ever give us a raise.”

“Well. I think I can work something out.” Jon says with a small mischievous smile. Sasha laughs, letting go of his hands. He looks at his office and sighs deeply, emails are always so much work, needing to be polite and professional. Jon could be nice, or professional, you had to choose.

“Keep the door open!” Sasha called after him and Jon huffs.

“You know I will.” he goes to typing after rolling his eyes. Sasha scolds him from the other room.

\-------

It was late. The windows blinds filtered in the artificial glow of light on the street. Jon and Sasha sat on the couch, eating something Jon had cooked. No matter how much of a mind they shared, Sasha could not understand cooking. Jon was well at it, having been taught by reading hundred of cookbooks as a child, but Sasha found that she had trouble with it.

The TV rang with noises of a long forgotten documentary about something inane. It had been put on when they had first come home, tired from the day. Jon had cooked while Sasha showered, and then they ate in companionable quiet.

“Jon.”

Jon looked surprised at the noise, looking up from the inane noise from the TV, his eyes zeroing in on hers, “Yes?”

“We’re going to protect each other right?” There was something intense in her eyes and Jon felt calm. Seen and taken care. Sasha protected him that night, saved his life. He would do anything to keep her alive and well, and he would do anything to make sure that she knew that.

“Of course. We’re a team.” He slightly bumped her shoulder with his and she smiled. He laid his head on her shoulder, and she sighed. The sigh wasn’t sad, more content that anything else. Her other hand came to flick hair out of his face, letting her cheek press against his hair. Jon wondered how he lived without being touched, how he had lived through life without receiving hugs like this, except from Georgie.

Sasha hummed, she was much the same. She was used to casual touch, but she wasn’t used to feeling like she belonged. Being here, with her closest friend, watching stupid documentaries and eating home cooked food, was all she could ask for.

\-------

A table, one that was full of hypnotic fractals and webbing patterns, had just found its way into artifact storage. Delivered by two delivery men, and signed for by a grinning Elias Bouchard.


	8. Tables Turning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title for this chapter: All I know is hurt readers, eat noodle, and scaream 
> 
> I am terrible at pacing I am so sorry. If something seems wrong please tell me :D

A month had passed. Jon and Sasha had stayed late, going home exhausted after long hours of reshelving and researching. They had barely registered that anyone else worked with them, so deep into their files and mutual conspiracy. Elias had come down to talk to them multiple times over the weeks, getting to be a bit hovering. Jon and Sasha knew it must be that they had been too good at deflecting, so he went the old fashioned knock on the door to spy on them.

They had made a dent in the work, a good chunk of it being thrown about a bit like a circus. The discredited statement still sat in boxes in the furthermost dark corner of the archives, still being shunned as if they personally committed a crime. They were inconveniencing, and Jon and Sasha felt very strongly about how much they hated them. Sasha though found that they were entertaining sometimes, when the true tales got to be a bit much. Jon though wanted to burn them, being that irritated with people wasting time. Though they usually gave Tim and Martin untrue statements, just to make sure they didn’t get too caught up in it.

They were first going to get them all in chronological order, and when that part was over, they would start to section them off into different things like they had the Jane Prentiss statements. The Gross statements going with other gross statements, that kind of thing. 

Recording was still normal, even if they filed more than anything. They got through three statements a week each. The tapes to which were going to be put into an organizer Sasha had ordered on Institute funds, it should arrive in a few weeks or so.

Jon hummed as he packed them both lunch, leftovers from the night before. Sasha was adjusting her hair with the mirror in the sitting room. She hummed when it finally worked the way she wanted it to, her hair in a nice place on her head, out of the way but not pulling too tightly. The headaches would kill both of them if she did. 

“Off to work?” Jon called softly, holding out Sasha’s lunch. Sasha nodded. They were both dressed and ready for the day. Hopefully it would be a good one.

\------

Sasha stood up, stretching. Jon gave her a confused look, and then nodded, going back to his work, eyes sweeping the page. Sasha had wanted to gather a few things from artifact storage, some would give her some insight into this one file that had her mind caught up. Jon thought about coming with her, but she had smiled and told him ‘no its fine. I can handle myself in a different department.’

He had merely hummed and told her to be safe. Sasha had joked, saying if he really was worried he could ‘keep an eye out.’ it was a terrible joke and Jon had told her so. After rolling her eyes and complaining about him not living her joke, she went off to the door. Waving to Tim and Martin she made her way to the dreaded department.

Artifact Storage was hell, she remembered from working there for a few months before getting back to research. Sasha had rather hated it in there, the dusty shelves full of terrifying trinkets that would probably kill her if she didn’t handle them right. She remembered how many people got injured here, getting themselves caught up in a leitner book, or a flesh eating childs toy.

It was dreadfully creepy.

She walked through though, hearing her shoes click on the floor. The connection to Jon was reassuring, feeling eyes on the back of her neck made her feel safer in this hellish labyrinth. Who thought it was a good idea to make the department of spooky evil objects this long and winding and confusing? She hopes they rot.

Still it was dark and the bulbs in artifact storage always went out at the shittiest of times, and now was one of those shitty times. Sasha cussed loudly, forgetting for a second her professionality. Thankfully she could see in the dark, her vision slightly tinted a green hue as she searched for the thing she had come in here for. 

There was a distinct feeling of Wrongness in the room and she looked around, her curiosity too great for anything else. There was a table there, one that was almost hypnotic, a webbed pattern going from the middle, where a place had been cut out. Sasha almost reached out to touch it. 

Something in her was telling her to run. To get out of there while she could. Sasha was not an idiot, knowing her gut was right, so she turned and started walking faster. She was deep in the belly of artifact storage and she was twitching at every noise and creak. The feeling of wrongness came deeper and she wanted to call out. 

There were footsteps.

\-----

There was a second as Jon turned his eyes upon Sasha from his office, just to check in. He felt her discomfort. There were footsteps.

Jon was screaming, his throat scratchy and raw. Clutching his head as his vision swam and something felt like it was tearing at his heart, ripping the cartilage and arteries. He tried to stand, but he stumbled as if he had never walked a day in his life. His vision was blurry as he noticed Tim and Martin running into the office, they were worried. Worried for him. He was more worried about what was happening in Artifact Storage. He pushed passed them as fast as he could, struggling to walk. A sudden pain ripped through his lungs and he let out another cry.

“Sasha!”

Jon pushed through the pain, the door in sight. He shoved the static away, searching for Sasha, feeling her fear. He pinpointed her location, darting through doors and people who were concerned as to why he looked like a frantic madman. There was no time for him to be pleasant.

A string was winding tight in his chest and he desperately hoped that he wasn’t too late to stop whatever was happening. It was taut and almost ready to snap, like a tightrope in his lungs.

The darkness of the artifact storage department did not put him off, his eyes flickering from wall to wall as he searched. Shelves towered over his shaking form as he tried not to touch anything. Sasha was only a few rooms away, he could make it, he could make it.

He slammed the last door open to see something grotesque and hellish standing over Sasha. Sasha looked blurry, as if fizzing at the edges, her eyes glowing a bright toxic green. He felt her pain, his scream earlier must have also been hers.

The thing looked up at him, its face ever changing and strange. Its eyes shift colors and shapes and ethnic features. Its face was like a mod podge of newspaper clippings. It had too many joints in its long and horrifying figure, skin shifting and changing. The thing was the Not Them. He remembered the creature from statements he and Sasha went through. It was the reason Sasha had invested in a Polaroid camera. 

Its curling and spindly clawed fingers reached for him, but Jon did not care. He finally shook out of his stupor, running to his other half. He could not let anything happen. They promised to protect each other, and he couldn't go back on that. A vicious protective angry thing curled in his throat, his eyes burning with something akin to rage and fear.

Static fills the room.

“I SEE YOU.”


	9. Hospital Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapters working title was: Babies go to the Hospital and Tim is PISSED
> 
> Jon and Sasha hate hospitals, and hospital food. Tim is pissed at them for being stupid, and Elias is a bastard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Hospital, Eli*s, Codependency, Mentions of WoOrms. Me projecting my hatred of certain textures on Jon.
> 
> Everything is ok :)

Hospitals are horrible. Hospitals are equally terrible when you’re in the section that holds supernatural victims, in which you have been held before. It was so soon after the worm incident. 

It felt like years away, but now that he thought about it, it was only a few months. It felt like Jon and Sasha had been connected at the hip for ages, but instead it hadn't even been a year of their closeness. 

Jon woke up to the brightness. He shot up out of the hospital bed and his eyes darted around. He needed to See. He just needed- He was struggling to see anything, his glasses not in their rightful spot on his face. He scrambled off the bed, seeing a vague outline.

“Jon, I'm right here.”

He took a breath, standing by Sasha’s bedside. Her voice was full of static. Now that he was closer he could see her. She was no longer blurry around the edges, just fully human looking. Her eyes were normal, but he could see a few scabbed over scratches all over her arms.

“You killed it.” Sasha said, she was about to sit up but Jon shook his head, instead making her scoot over. They sat together, the contact helping them both calm down. 

It had become scary, how close they were. How they probably would have died together, in that dusty downstairs artifact storage. Maybe one of them would have come back, though it wouldn’t have actually been either of them. Their stories and thoughts erased permanently, leaving them what they loathed to be. A mystery. Something to never be figured out.

Jon had been scared. But Sasha even more so.

“We said we’d protect each other. Even if I pass out.” Jon said softly. Sasha snorted, the laugh pulled out of her unexpectedly. She nodded. Jon was carefully pushing her hair out of her face as he hummed.

“Yeah we did. Do you remember anything?” Sasha let herself get fussed over.

Jon sighed, “Sort of? It’s blurry. Do you remember anything?”

Instead of saying anything, they shared the memory, their thoughts connecting. 

Sasha had been bowled down by something, trying to use her voice. It came out from the things mouth, her own words of pleaing help were garbled and wrong. Her eyes glowed in the darkness, staring at the thing but her eyes weren’t the ones that held power. It was her words that did and she could not speak, for the thing was trying to eat her life, and spit out her bones to put on a play, a dress rehearsal in which Sasha would not have been invited. 

Her eyes watched as the feeling of an overbearing Gaze settled on her, the door opening to see her in imminent peril. She could feel herself phasing out of the world, something trying to steal her physical body, and all its identity. Hearing the rushing footsteps and watching the Gaze as it followed. He ran to her, even though a large hand was coming down to tear at his body. 

Sasha spends her last waking moments watching as the thing’s hands come down, as Jon yells “I see you.” Covering her body with his own, as if to protect her even if it meant his own death.

She was awake to see Jon’s eyes glow with bright green hatred, watch as the thing was Seen. Hearing a shrill scream as the thing tried to run from the ever watching Eye. Then she passed out. She assumes the thing is dead at least. Though it may have just been trapped in the table once more, licking its wounds. Either way they were safe for now. 

They both took a sharp breath when the memory ended, almost as if they had been watching a movie that ended in a cliffhanger. Sasha sighs and Jon looks like he has doubled down on his resolve to protect.

They both needed to protect each other. They came to the plan of never letting the other go alone, to always be there to protect them. Strength came in numbers, and their strength seemed to come from each other. 

It was like binding their souls.

\----

Tim and Martin were silent. They had just seen something horrible, something long and inhuman screaming and crawling away from the blurry and slightly scratched up body of Sasha James. Jonathan Sims falling and hitting the ground hard after seemingly yelling at the thing to leave. 

They were pretty such they were both going to die. Sasha having been assaulted by a monster, and Jon from hitting the ground like a rock. 

Martin had called the ambulance, and Tim had picked up Jon and Sasha, carrying both like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. How he did so Martin could never hope to divine, but he had brought them both up to lobby. They had been bombarded by nosy staff and Elias as Tim laid both bodies of their friends on the benches in the lobby. Jon probably had a concussion and Sasha looked about ready to bleed out. 

Elias had asked what happened, but the way he asked made it almost seem like he already knew. He dismissed them as soon as Jon and Sasha were taken to the hospital, telling them to take a ‘mental health’ break. 

Getting home had been a struggle, mostly because both of them were reeling, and didn’t know what to do. Should they go see the two of them? Would they even be allowed?

Tim had wanted to follow after them, make sure their friends were alright, but Martin had to be the voice of reason. They couldn’t follow, not right now. There was a chance they wouldn’t wake up. It scared them to think about how they might lose two people they were close to.

Or at least, had been close to.

\-----

Jon hated the texture of hospital food. It was all nasty. After the first time he had it he swore to stay out of hospitals as much as possible. Working at the Magnus Institute made it hard to avoid the hospital though. 

They were supposed to stay in the hospital overnight, but Sasha had found a neat little get around thankfully for both of them. They don’t think they could stand being in that white room anymore. Sasha signed them both out and they were gone as fast as they could back to their flat. 

Jon face-planted on the couch. Sasha huffed a laugh at that, “takeout?”

He didn’t even have to answer, both the mental connection, and his face when he turned his head to look at her. She laughed, pulling out her phone and taking a picture. Jon huffed, scrunching his face before staying face down on the couch. Sasha found it incredibly funny, and a bit like a cat. Jon seemingly heard this thought and groaned. 

Sasha ordered takeout before walking to the couch and then sitting on Jon’s back. Jon let out a noise of complaint. 

“You took up the couch.”

Jon grumbled, but she heard what he wanted to say. She stayed where she sat for a minute before laughing and getting up.

“You’re bony. Terrible seat really.”

“You’re heavy.” he huffed back, and Sasha feigned offence. Jon merely shrugged and then sat up, curling into the bunched up blanket. Sasha sat down next to him and they sat close. It was an unspoken rule that they would eat and then watch a documentary and then go to bed. A nightly routine. Maybe they could talk more about the encounter with the Not Them late, but right now they were warm on the couch, sharing friendship. 

Jon’s phone binging, an email from Elias saying that they should stay on medical leave for a week, get better in the hospital. Sasha looks over and sticks her tongue out at the phone.

“Bastard probably already knows we left.” Jon nods, putting his phone without replying to the old annoyance. Sasha hums, before hearing the doorbell and going to get their food.

\------

Tim and Martin came back to work three days later, ready to work alone again. They didn’t expect Jon nor Sasha to be back for a while, since they both should be in the hospital. The stacks were quiet, deathly so. Archives were always so hollow, unlike libraries and bookstores and places where many people came to search for knowledge, archives were like graveyards compared to other places. 

The door to Archives opened as both of them had been musing, Tim turned. Martin was making them both tea, and he peeked around the doorway to see who was there. 

It was Elias Bouchard. God Tim hated him, because for some reason he seemed to show up, encourage dangerous behavior, talk around the real issues, and then smile a slimy little smirk as if he could see how much Tim wanted him gone. Elias looked over the archives, not even making eye contact with Tim before reaching the bottom of the steps. 

“Ah Mr. Stoker, just the man I wanted to see.” He sounded almost pleased. Tim tried to hide his annoyance, something he had become so good at. He had become good with hiding any emotion actually, ever since starting this hellish workplace and losing Danny...

“Yes double boss?” It sounded cheerful, nice and polite enough. 

Elias seemed to see right through it, “I just wanted to make sure you both knew that Sasha and Jon are out of the hospital, still on medical leave though.”

They weren’t supposed to be out until the end of the week. Tim silently cursed both of those idiots for again disrespecting hospital rules, bypassing everything just so they wouldn’t have to see doctors anymore. It was stupid and dangerous and Tim was going to scream at them when he could. 

“Thank you for telling us.” Martin said politely. He seemed fidgety and Elias stared at both of them for a small bit longer than necessary. Then he smiled, and left. 

Tim dialed up Sasha on his phone, but she didn’t answer even after four calls. He dialed Jon, again, no answer. 

“Fuck! I’m going to kill them!”


	10. Coexist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim is justified in his anger. 
> 
> This Chapters working title was: Canon-Typical Shit Communications

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Arguments, typical Spooky Shit, Mentions of the Hospital

Jon and Sasha both got ready for work and were off to the Magnus Institute three days before their medical leave was up. They walked to work at three in the morning, holding hands and practically glued together, their steps were perfectly aligned. Sasha opened the door, both of them separating to turn on the lights and meet back up in their office. 

Jon grabbed the closest box of statements, the papers heavier than he had expected, and Sasha grabbed a box of tape recorders. They plastic tapes and players clacking together as she walked. She could not wait until that organizer came in, it would be a lot easier than just cardboard boxes, they were much too flimsy honestly. Jon had glared at the shelves, which they planned on replacing later, when everything was better organized.

When they met up in the middle they hummed and then went to go record in their office. Jon sat on the ground, and Sasha took the chair. He found it rather nice on the floor. She started recording the statement in her hand, and Jon watched as she did so. Their eyes glowed a soft green. They had decided to let Sasha record most statements from now on, her voice a bit stronger. 

“Statement of Max Angeli, regarding a woman in his library sciences class…” The soft lull of static that came with statement trances took them both over, as Sasha read and Jon stared. A comfortable cradle of words and fear.

\------

“Where the hell have you two been?” Tim slammed the door open, scaring the hell out of both Jon and Sasha, who were absorbed in their work. Jon stood up abruptly and then made a pained face. 

“What do you mean?” Sasha asked.

Tim looked angry, “What do *I* mean? What the fuck is wrong with you two! Leaving the hospital before you were completely checked over, not answering your phones for two days, not answering the door! Where have you been?” he ranted, his hands swinging. Jon flinched hard even though Tim was a few feet away, shuffling closer to the desk where Sasha sat.

“Don’t just look at me! Answer me dammit! You two scared us so much!” Tim walked closer, his arms crossed so he wouldn't flip out and slam his palms on the desk. He was pissed, the both of them being obscure and then dipping away for two days? This was getting too much for him. He thought they had been body snatched or dead or kidnapped or something worse that he didn’t want to think about. Martin was in the doorway, his hands clutched up near his throat, timidly watching from the doorframe.

Jon and Sasha opened their mouths at the same time, but Sasha answered and Jon's jaw shut, “I think my phone is still in Document storage.”

“Mines at the flat actually, it's been dead…” Jon murmured. They both look properly chastised but they didn’t answer the rest of Tim’s well deserved questions.

“Ok... Now explain to me everything else.” Tim said, his patience on the short end of the fuse. Martin looked like he wanted to get in the way of this terrible fight waiting to happen. 

Jon and Sasha were still pressed together by their sides, “The hospital wouldn’t do anything else. It was useless to stay there.”

“Jon had a concussion and you were bleeding out! Are you kidding me Sash?” His tone was like the color red. Sasha looked stressed out and Jon’s eyes were narrowing. “Fine. Fine! why didn’t you two answer the door?”

“We slept most of the day actually.”

Tim looked disbelieving, “You both slept for most of two days, while having injuries that could kill you if you slept? I thought you, at least, smarter than that Sasha!”

Sasha made a face, her own eyes narrowing at the jab, “What does that mean?”

“It means I thought you would take better care of yourself.” Tim let out a loud angry groan, “Jon’s not good at taking care of himself, we all know that. Hes stupid like that!”

“I am right here.” Jon's voice was quiet, a fraction annoyed. 

“I know boss! Shocker I can see! Both of you are workaholics and-” He cuts himself off with a strangled noise of annoyance and anger. Martin was in the room looking a bit uncomfortable with the confrontation. “We get it lovebirds, you want to be together all the time-”

“Ew!” Both Jon and Sasha chimed in, before turning to each other and saying, “No offense.” And then, “None taken.”

Martin huffed an incredulous laugh, a hand on Tim’s shoulder. Tim looked absolutely floored. This was a revelation to both of them, they had really thought with all the hand holding and horribly unhealthy amounts of time they spent together it was slightly romantic. Though maybe they had been looking at it wrong. The overbearing protectiveness of each other, and talking together seemed more Shining Twins than anything. 

“Ok. Ok.” Tim takes a breath, trying to calm down. He might as well hold an intervention while he was in the room, he wasn’t much for trying to do this again, all the stress in one session would make it easier right? It wasn’t like they would get mad, they both were mostly reasonable. They would see what was wrong when he pointed it out. 

“You two have been really close lately.” Tim said, as if trying to be casual.

Sasha and Jon nodded, “Yeah?” Sasha answered for them. Jon’s head was cocked to the side, and Tim felt like the eyes on him were overbearing. It was like he was being watched from all sides. He had goosebumps. Shit. When did both of them start having this freaky stare? When did both of them age by ten years? Was it when the worms happened or was it the time when Jon got ‘mugged,’ if that's what they are keeping as a cover story.

Finally Martin takes a breath, his own thoughts spilling out, “Are you two sure it is healthy to be so dependent on each other? I mean you haven’t really talked to us unless necessary, and well, you’ve practically moved in together, you work really late and I don’t think I’ve seen either of you apart since the worm incident.”

Jon looks and then he gives a humorless laugh, “See what happened the last time we went apart? Sasha got attacked by a monster that wanted to steal her life from us.” Their hands were clasped together. 

“Ok. Well that's just because she went alone into Artifact Storage. Could have been any of us.” Tim reminded them. 

Sasha hummed looking thoughtful, “We should have a buddy system for Artifact Storage actually that's a good idea.”

“You aren’t even really listening to us!” Tim yelled. “You two are so codependent that I don’t think you go anywhere without each other! I swear it's like you’ve become the same person. You’ve stopped talking to us.”

“Is it so bad to have someone you trust with your life?” Sasha asks, her voice is just on this edge of danger. 

Martin looks at them both, “To the amount we're seeing, no. Please can we just-”

“Get out.” Sasha said. Jon’s narrowed eyes were on both of them, overbearing and the air thick. 

“No.” Tim walked closer to the table, a fire in his eyes.

“Get. Out. Tim. Martin.” Sasha’s voice was cold and she stood up, and Jon squeezed her hand carefully, as if to comfort her.

Tim looks betrayed, “What happened to you?”

“This is your last warning. Stoker. Get out.” 

Tim turns after gazing at her, his eyes full of anger and sadness and loss. His face sets stony and he grabs Martin’s shoulder. 

“Fine.” He spits before the two of them left, and the door slams. 

It is silent.


	11. Elias Interlude 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter working title was: He is a shitty boss who feasts on drama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Paranoia, Eli*s, Aftermath of Arguments

Watching Tim and Martin confront his archivists was worth telling them the hospital bit. Of course he never wanted to give them any information that would send them running to their friends, but it had rather paid off. He watched the scene play out, the yelling, the subtle protectiveness, the arguments, and the way Martin finally spoke up in the end. He was living off the drama. 

Elias laughed when Tim slammed the door, and his chuckles continued as he saw that Tim was crying in the breakroom. Martin was trying to comfort him of course, that being the person he was. The archives were quiet, and Elias watched as Tim broke down for only a few minutes before going back to his main priority. 

Sasha and Jon were quietly talking about how Tim and Martin must be trying to break them apart for some kind of scheme. Elias cackled at the idea, Martin and Tim were so smitten by the Archivists, absolutely crushing hard. How terribly tragic, that both of them still were in love with the paranoid monsters that would become tools to end the world. 

Weeks passed in the archives. He had kept going down, to check, because most of the time one of those two liked to play the deflection game with his Sight. It was always quiet and tense. Jon and Sasha either in their office or walking speedily hand in hand to go grab something important. 

How funny was it to see Jon climbing chairs to check for security cameras, while Sasha went through their coworkers desks. Elias was glad he chose two deeply entertaining people. Imagine if he had chosen someone mentally stable! That just wouldn’t have worked.

They stalked the streets, watching carefully. He knows Sasha carries a knife in case of a Hunter, even if both of them were plenty supernaturally strong. Jon had a taser on his key chain. There was an ax somewhere in their apartment, he had seen them buy it. 

He couldn’t watch them in their flat, sadly it was quite off limits. They seemed to know how to keep him out of there, or the Eye just didn’t need his gaze there. He wasn’t too worried honestly, they were both voracious in their work, not even doing anything to reverse their Becoming. They were coming along nicely, paranoid and scared, though not alone. 

He had plenty of time to find a way to send one of them into the Lonely. Elias had tweaked his plans just a little, since before he had only calculated for Jon’s stupidity and emotional breakdowns. Though the plans he had now worked just perfectly fine themselves.

Each was marked, Sasha with the Stranger and its claws, Jon with the web and its spider, and the hunt with its shewolf. Both marked with the Corruption and its worms, and both marked by the eye, for obvious reasons.

Nine left. Elias grinned. How easy to turn people against each other.


	12. The Road is Paved in Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapters working title was: MONSTERMONSTERMONSTER 
> 
> Jon and Sasha are slightly terrifying!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Police Mentions, Trauma, Unhealthy Eating Habits, Stupidity
> 
> A big thank you to anglerfishing, (Art Tumblr mspainttma) for fanart!!!  
> https://mspainttma.tumblr.com/

Sasha itched at the scars on her arms, and Jon carefully moved her hand away. She sighed looking through the window. They were both pretty stressed, the bags only growing ever larger, as their nights went longer. Both of them were running off of iced coffee that Sasha had desperately wanted and got Jon hooked on, and cigarettes. Jon had started up again and Sasha would sit and watch as he took a drag on the balcony. 

They hadn’t found anything suspicious in Tim nor Martin’s desk. So either they were just concerned, or they were really good at hiding it.

“I still don’t want them involved.” Jon mumbled into Sasha's sweater. They were curled on the couch, tired enough that they felt like passing out. Maybe it was unhealthy to not eat anything but neither of them could be arsed to get up and make something edible. Sasha groaned, hearing their stomach making noises. 

“I don’t either.” She sighed, “We might have to one day though.”

“What if-” He was cut off by his phone ringing. An annoyed groan ripped through him and he sat up. Sasha made a noise of discomfort, before sitting up herself. They stared at the phone. 

Jon answered with a huff, “What?” He was tired and hungry and he just wanted to take a nap on the couch. Sasha leaned over, her chin resting on his head. He silently called her too tall to live and she huffed. 

“Uh. Jon?”

“Martin? Why are you awake, it's late?” Jon yawned, and he heard shuffling on the other end of the line. Martin was obviously fidgeting with his phone. 

“Does it matter?” 

Jon hummed, and Sasha did the same. She knew who was on the other end, and she was trying to listen in the normal way, instead of through their connection. “No I suppose not.”

“Right. Ok. Uh.” He was trying to formulate a sentence and Jon waited, he had certainly gotten more patient over the past few months. Sasha helped by glaring everytime he had been impolite, “I want to talk.”

Jon snorted, “I rather thought that. We are on the phone… talking.”

“Not what I meant.” Martin said, his voice was amused and annoyed. 

Jon hummed, his throat hurt since he hadn’t actually drank anything in the past four hours. Sasha finally stood and went to grab a cup of water for each of them, her own throat slightly scratchy. 

“I wanted to talk in person.”

“Again it's late, me and Sasha have already turned in? Can it not wait?” Jon asked. It was dark outside, the only light coming from the moon and flickering street lamps. He wondered when the bulbs were last changed. 

“Actually. I wanted to see you alone.”

There was a noise from the kitchen, and Sasha imperiously walked over with two cups in her hands. She sat them down and took the phone. Jon easily let her take it, since she obviously wanted to speak.

“No. You’re not getting one of us alone. Good night Martin.” She hung up and Jon carefully took his phone back, setting it down on the table. She had been right to do that honestly. At least in Jon’s mind. Trying to get one of them alone was weird and suspicious. Honestly Jon was just happy Sasha had taken the phone from him. 

“Thank you. For the water and all that.” Jon said. While they could talk through connections, both of them rather liked being able to converse normally. 

Sasha hummed, grabbing her glass and taking a sip, “No problem.”

“Those iced coffees are going to kill my heart.”

“The cigarettes will kill your lungs first.” Sasha quipped, and Jon pointedly took a drink of his water before almost choking and sputtering. Sasha cackled patting his back as if it would actually help, and Jon glared halfheartedly, his glasses skewed. 

“You're awful.”

“You love me.” 

“No I do not.” 

“I can literally look into your brain Jon. You love me.”

“This is harassment. I am being bullied as an adult.”

“Kind deserve it.” Sasha sat the cup down onto a coaster, and Jon took a drink carefully this time. 

“I do not.”

Sasha laughs softly, and when the cups are down they both snatch the blanket over them, only their heads in the open. Jon laid his head on Sasha’s shoulder, and she hummed, laying her head on his. It was warm under the blanket and they were about to fall asleep before Jon’s phone rang again.

“Are you kidding me!” Sasha flung the blanket off and Jon scrambled to grab his phone. He picked up with an annoyed groan, not even a hello. 

“Uhh. Jon?”

It wasn’t Martin and Jon made another noise of contempt, “What?”

Tim sounded frantic, “You know that cop? Madame Police Brutality?” 

“Yes I know the one?” Jon was hyperaware in seconds. Sasha was staring at the phone, eyes wide. 

“Yeah. Well she's outside our flat. I don’t know why I even called you but she is trying to break the door down. Uh. Martin’s barricading. We can’t call the police…”

“I figured.” Jon said quietly, “We’ll be there in a few minutes. Stay quiet.”

He hung up and saw Sasha had already thrown on her coat and shoes, and he was halfway off the couch to do the same. As soon as they were both ready they were out the door running. 

Jon put his hair up and Sasha did the same, then, hand in hand they ran to Tim’s flat ready to defend their friends with their lives.

\------ 

Jon and Sasha arrived only to see Daisy breaking down the door. Sasha immediately took action, and Jon was not far behind. Already they were up the stairs and following the she wolf as she prowled the flat. Why did she come here? What was her motive?

They were curious, and very very pissed. Tim’s apartment was trashed already. The officer is already sniffing through rooms to try and find them, probably sniffing out the fear like a bloodhound. Sasha yells.

“Hey!”

The officer turned and was close to lunging before Jon stepped next to Sasha. He had his taser, which was probably less scary than whatever the hell they could do with their mind together. Jon glared at the officer and Sasha was reading herself. 

“What do you think you’re doing puppy?” Sasha asked, her voice cold. They were both glaring as they intoned, “We see you. We see you.”

Officer Tonner dropped to the floor, clutching at her head. Her knees hitting the ground hard as her mind was Seen and Known and Heard. 

\-----

Tim and Martin had been terrified by the banging on the door, a familiar sneering face outside. Martin had just gotten off the phone with Jon, a bad call that ended just as well as Tim thought it might. It was questionably better than not getting an answer at all. Then the banging started and Martin freaked out. Knocking still wizzed him out even after months of not seeing a thing of Prentiss. 

He checked and they saw the police officer, but she wasn’t in uniform and she was alone, so off duty then. Martin pointed out that they couldn’t exactly call the police in this situation, and Tim grabbed the phone from Martin’s hand and dialed Jon, the first contact. 

After the call they put something in front of the door and checked all the windows. The monster of a woman burst through the door, knocking down the barricade a few minutes after the call. They hid in the bedroom, clutching each other's sleeves. There was a cacophony of noise as stuff was knocked down and things were destroyed. Tim cringed at the noise of breaking glass, and Martin violently flinched at the footsteps. 

Two more sets of footsteps came though. The destruction stopped and they heard, “Hey!”

Tim was brave enough to peek out, his eyes barely making it past the door frame. Jon and Sasha were there, standing their ground, staring at the officer. Their eyes were glowing green like toxic slime, Jon’s eyes seemed bigger, as if they grew as he took in the Officers silent fear.

Sasha’s voice is gritty and almost gleeful, “what do you think you're doing puppy.” The name fits with the feral way the officer acted, and as Sasha spoke Tim and Martin could swear they saw a pupil in the back of her throat, was that the glare of light on the esophagus, or was Tim tripping? Was that an eye in the back of her mouth?

“We see you! We see you.” Jon's voice was just loud and their eyes glowed even brighter as if the sun was reflected in them, showing a kind of otherworldly power that dropped Officer alice Tonner to her knees, and clutching her head. 

Their hair was flowing in a wind that was not there, until it stopped. And the shared gaze of Sasha and Jon turned to Tim and Martin’s shaking forms in the doorway.

Their shared gaze was enough to make both Tim and Martin shudder. They both almost ducked behind the doorway again, if that would have done anything to stop the way their skin crawled as Jon and Sasha did not blink. And suddenly it was normal, Sasha’s eyes back to their dark almost black brown, and Jon’s back to a soft hazel. The police officer stared up at the two of them, her eyes wide and horrified.

Jon kneeled down next to her, “Understand this is not personal. Well. It wasn’t. Don’t try and hurt them again. Alright?”

He stood, dusted himself off, and took Sasha’s hand. They watched as the officer stumbled out the door, as if drugged by her own terror, unable to keep her knees from giving out every few steps. Her clawed hands clutched at the rails, and they could hear quiet cries of both pain and fear. The weirdest thing was that Jon and Sasha looked healthier than they had in days, the bags under their eyes slightly less dark, their sickly ashiness that came with not actually eating lessened.

They closed the door, and that was when Martin and Tim decided it was best to come out.

Tim let out a breath, “Holy shit what you two do?”

Jon and Sasha looked at eachother, both still standing close to the other, Sasha answered, “Uh. We made her understand what she did. Made her watch what we could do to her if she tried it again…” Her voice was quiet.

“Wow.” Martin couldn’t help but say. Everything was a lot right now. Knowing their friends were supernatural monsters was so much, and watching that go down was terrifying.

Jon fidgeted, one hand coming to nervously pick at his lip. Sasha squeezed his hand, feeling the same stress, both shared and individual. They had wanted to keep them out of whatever this was, to save them from being a part of the whole ‘spooky archives business.’ It had been a source of anxiety for the both of them for as long as they had lived together.

Sasha took a breath, noticing she and Jon had been having a conversation in their heads, eyes glowing slightly. It seemed to scare their friends.

“We didn’t want you two to have to deal with the supernatural… That includes whatever is going on with us.” Maybe it was more than that. Maybe it was fear that people they loved wouldn’t love them like they did. Maybe it was just stupidity. Sasha had a hand bunched up in her own sleep shirt.

Martin looked at them both, a sudden connection going in his brain, like a lightbulb, “Wait wait wait. What is going on with you? Explain it to us.” He paused, “Please.”

Tim had decided to gesture to the couch, “Might as well sit down. This better be good.”

The two connected flinched in mirror of each other at the slight aggression, but went to sit down just as well. Martin wanted to make tea or something, but was ushered over to the couch to sit with the other three. It was uncomfortably silent for a minute before Tim huffs.

“Ok. Start from the beginning, we will have questions.”

“”Ok it started with the statements.”” They said at the same time before looking at each other, an invisible back and forth happening. Finally it seemed like they settled on something.

Sasha sighed, “So we think this happened because we started recording statements outloud, or maybe it was the worms. Really we don’t know.”

“It's irritating.” Jon mumbled and Sasha nodded sagely.

“So we started noticing it after finding Gertrudes body. We felt weaker when we were alone, and we could see what the other was thinking. And feeling. It was a lot to take in, and we were already trying to see what was wrong with us, so we stayed later, and came in earlier. We got so much work done too which is a plus.” Jon made a noise of agreement at that.

Sasha hummed, gauging their faces and reactions before continuing, “We both Saw the worms at Martin’s flat that night. Like we were there. And sometimes that still happens, but not often enough.”

“Should we tell them about Daisy?” He whispered into her ear. They had both decided to act normal during this conversation, if only just to be polite. Sasha hummed.

“Would you like to tell them?” She asked softly. Jon thinks for a second and nods, taking over the speaking.

Jon hummed, “That police officer, what did you call her? Whatever she stalked us and tried to kill us. Uh that's what actually happened with,” he gestured to the scar on his throat, “this.”

The other two in the room looked distressed about this information, and Sasha decided to take over before anything got too stressful, “Now we’re here. Uh. We can feel each other's emotions and most of their pain. We can only use the scary powers when we're together, and if one of us dies… so does the other.”

“Fuck.” Tim said disbelieving. He took a deep breath, “Ok. This explains a lot.”

“Yeah.” Martin breaths. “That's… a lot.”

Jon and Sasha nodded, they were still sitting close, hands intertwined, “That thing that attacked us was the NotThem. It may be dead. We don’t really know. We think its either dead or very injured. Jon kinda went hamshit on it.”

“Language.” Jon said, as if this was a normal debate between them. It struck both Tim and Martin how strange it would be to relearn their friends. But. It would be worth it. They missed their friends, and now they were monsters.

That would be hard to cope with… It would be worth it.

Martin snickers and everyone turns to him. He goes red, “ Uh. You two just went all traumatizing on that officer in sleep clothes.”

They looked down to see yes, it was silly. Jon was wearing a terrible cat shirt with a bad pun on it and baggy sweatpants, and Sasha was wearing a bright pink Ghost Hunt UK shirt with rumpled fuzzy pants. Jon was the next to laug, a small smile gracing his face. Sasha snickered.

It takes a few minutes for them to all calm down from their laughter, before it goes quiet again. A silent contemplating silence. Both Jon and Sasha looked a bit worried, their eyes glowing, signifying a mental conversation.

Tim gave an uncomfortable laugh, “What's on your minds?”

“”Are we monsters?”” They both asked softly. They looked worried about what they thought. It was something that they hadn’t even thought about, how they were perceived by their friends.

“We can worry about that later.” Tim says standing. “Who wants to drink and clean up the flat?”

At this Jon and Sasha looked up and smiled, “Hell yeah.” “Alright.”


	13. Snapshots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Title: Snapshots of some good ass found family!!!
> 
> Waking up at Tim's and relearning friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Unhealthy Eating Habits Mentioned, Not Them Mentions, (Literally the tiniest amount, probably not even a considerable amount for a mention but) Body Stuff
> 
> I AM SO SORRY I MEANT TO TELL YALL I WOULD BE GONE ALL WEEKEND FOR CAMPING BUT IT SLIPPED MY MIND AKFHAFAFH FUCK!!! Love yall doe

Martin woke up first, less hungover than anyone else, so he sat up. He sees the scene on the couch and almost cooed out loud. Sasa had one arm lying overtop Tim’s shoulders, hand lazily grasping at the fabric, she was laying partially on Jon’s legs. Her head was held up by a tower of pillows. Jon was on the floor, his legs up on the couch, his body was twisted so that his arms were cushioning his face, his legs being a bit of a cushion to Sasha. Tim’s legs were draped over Martin’s legs, his head pillowed in Sasha’s lap. Martin’s lower half was trapped but he slowly extracted himself, trying to be as careful as possible.

Jon blinks away before shimmying away from his position, his back popping in multiple places. Sasha wakes up next, scratching her cheek and yawning. 

Martin comes back into the room fully dressed for the day and Tim is still sleeping when he gets back. Jon and Sasha’s eyes were glowing, probably having a conversation. Martin still couldn’t get over how strange it was for his friends to randomly glow. Or how weird it was to know his friends were like psychic twins. Jon looks over at him and smiles softly before going back to the silent conversation with Sasha. 

Sasha is braiding Tim’s hair while he sleeps, she looks down at him and Jon gives her a look. 

“I’ll make breakfast.” Jon announces, his voice still gravelly with sleep. He gets up with a grumble as more bones pop. Sasha winces, as if she felt it. She probably did. 

Sasha hummed, “You know how I like it.”

“Yes. Sinfully burnt toast and undercooked eggs. Honestly if you get us food borne disease from eating practically raw eggs I’ll be very cross.” He walks to the kitchen, his shoulder barely touching Martin’s forearm. He hummed, pulling out pots as if he had known where they were. Then Jon made a face, as if he just realized he knew where everything was. 

Shrugging Jon started making food, leaving it unattended for a few seconds at a time to peek around the wall and make sure Sasha was still there, as if she might disappear if he left for too long. Well, after the Artifact Storage Identity Theft creature, Martin supposed it was fair. 

“How do you like your food?” Jon asked quietly. Martin realizes Jon had been looking at him for a whole before opening his mouth, as if forgetting that not everyone was Telepathically connected. Martin snorted but then went red at the look of offense on Jon’s face.

“No. Uh. Sorry. Scrambled please.” Jon nods, continuing his work. Martin would have never pinned him as the type to cook. 

There were footsteps before Sasha was sitting on the counter, just beside the stove so that she could give Jon a pat on the head. Jon hums, looking pleased. They both seemed so… happy. Even if not in a romantic way. 

Watching the two of them easily work together, Sasha handing Jon certain spies, and Jon taking them without even looking her way. 

Tim pads into the room, yawning, “Who's cooking- Oh hi.” Sasha snorts and Jon has a smile on his face. Martin can't help but chuckle lightly. 

Sasha speaks up now, “How do you take eggs Tim?”

“Sunnyside up.” He stretched. The kitchen was starting to get claustrophobic since it was a two person flat and there were four people in there. Martin was fat, Tim and Sasha were towering tall. Jon took up almost no space though, so they only counted him as a half a person. 

Jon turned and looked offended and Sasha shrugged, “You’re tiny.”

“I’m the one who is cooking.” 

“Doesn’t make you Not Tiny?” Tim quips, Jon sends a glare up at him, because everyone towers over Jon. Jon pointed the spatula he was using at them and he looked so much like a grandma that Sasha cackled. Martin and Tim were laughing as well. 

“I’m going to spit in your food.” He mumbled, and all three of them knew he wouldn't. He loved them too much. 

\------

They all took a walk to Jon and Sasha’s flat so that both of them could get dressed in actual clothes. The flat was a lot different from when they came in the night from the worms, Martin had never even seen it. It was cosy actually. 

There were piles of paper and pens and three tape recorders on the dining table. There were piles of blankets on the couch, as if they had slept there for the last few months, and knowing them, they have been. Tim walks through the place while Jon and Sasha are rifling around their closet, snooping. He checks the fridge and makes a face. 

“Jon cooks but there is literally nothing in here but a carton of milk and three peaches.” Tim makes a face. Martin looks in and also looks disgusted, sticking his tongue out. 

Jon leaves the bedroom with clothes in his arms, going to change in the bathroom. Tim found it a little funny that they didn’t change together, but decided just to continue snooping. The shelves were covered in notebooks and large tomes, many nonfiction, but there were quite a few fantasy novels that Sasha fancied. Sasha’s phone was on the coffee table, next to a few empty coffee mugs. 

“And here I thought Sasha was less of a disaster.” Tim laughed, Martin was grabbing the empty mugs and going to put them away. The other part of the human duo walked around, looking at the strings of polaroids of all of them hanging on the walls. There were a few of when both Martin and Tim weren’t looking, taken secretly while they did something mundane. It would have been creepy if it weren't sort of sweet. 

There was one of all of them together, he remembered Rosie took it for them. One of them had someone blacked out in the back, whoTim supposed was Elias. His eyes were blacked out especially, and he could see the outline of his expensive suit. 

There was one of Jon trying to grab the camera out of Sasha’s hands, his arms outreached across the dining table, large sweater sleeves scrunching up at his elbows. He had pen ink smeared on his mouth and hand, seemingly from biting too hard, the pen in question was spilling ink onto an empty paper next to him. Tim laughs, it was so funny. This snapshot of their life. 

Maybe he was a little choked up at how much he had missed, how much there could have been. If only they had all been smarter than that.

Tim sighs, before hearing Sasha telling Martin off for cleaning when he was a guest. Jon comes out of the bathroom wearing a long pastel green skirt with a button up, Sasha looks up and they laugh. Their outfits were almost the same, Sasha wearing a slightly shorter red shirt and button up. 

Sasha and Jon look at eachother and nod before walking to grab something from besides the couch. The polaroid camera. Jon snaps a picture of Sasha and Tim and Martin, all of them caught off guard. 

Sasha snatches it from Jon, who gave the camera willingly. He smiles more. Tim and Martin noticed that. Jon never smiled much, and now here he was, playing around and joking. They posed with him so Sasha could take a picture and giggle, the picture taking its place on a free spot on the wall. 

“Why polaroids?” Martin asks, “Not complaining, but retro seems to be my thing.”

“I like vintage too…” Sasha gets quiet, “And it's a good precaution against the Not Them…”

“Oh.”

For a second it’s quiet before Sasha hums and Jon gestures to the door, Sasha speaks up, “Anyone want to go get iced coffee?”

“I’ll get tea. But yeah!” Martin says. Tim grins and nods, and they are off.


	14. Detour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter Working Title was: HEHEHEH HE HIM FUCK
> 
> Sasha and Jon meet a stranger in a Cafe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Unreality, Slight (A vv small mount) of Body Horror, Spiral Typical Shits

Jon and Sasha were throwing on their coats and trying to shove on their shoes. Jon was trying to clean up the sink and put away dishes fruitlessly, while Sasha was trying to pick up the remains of takeout boxes that they had laying around. They both remembered how Martin was trying to pick up after them and maybe they should have been cleaning after themselves. Sasha called out to Jon before realizing he was already next to her, his coat haphazardly pulled on and oxfords showing a peek of cat socks.

The fashion taste was long forgotten in their rush though.

They clasped hands and made their way to go pick up a breakfast pastry from a nearby place and go to the archives, read a few statements, or Sasha read and Jon watched her read. 

They were hungry… And not just their human stomachs. Their heads buzzed with Need.

The Cafe was on the way, and they were walking that day. As they went in to quickly grab their preferred food, they noticed something out of the corner of their eyes. A man watching from outside with a coffee cup, warm and to go, sitting in one of the metal chairs. He looked like he was waiting and something about him made both of them feel uneasy. Jon looked closer before hissing, putting his free hand up to cover his eyes, looking away.

It was a blond man, taller than both of them, though it was easy to be taller than Jon. Sasha was still a towering woman. His eyes were normal, but something about him was just Off, their weird meter for horror was turned all the way up, sensing something Other. Jon was still trying to look away from him, and Sasha saw what he did. The window showed his reflection, a reflection of absolute madness, spiraling curling hair and longer hands, like he had a whole skeleton of hand bones.

Jon shivered, “You see it.”

“His reflection.”

Jon looked confused, “No? He looks like- oh.” He could see what Sasha saw in the reflection without the aid of a mirror image. She grabbed his hand, and they both went for their pastries.

Sasha was curious though, and Jon looked at her with big eyes before just sighing and nodding. They would get to the bottom of it, though Jon would just have to Not Look at the man. They grab their food and walk out the door hand in hand to sit across from the man. Sasha could see the man smiling as they approached, and Jon flinched as he looked. She slightly hit his shoulder with hers, because he was supposed to Not Look.

The man grinned, “How interesting!” His voice was… unique. Strange and otherworldly, airy with a tone of excitement. He looked at them, Jon’s vision swirled the more he watched. 

Sasha huffed, they both thought it would be better to get this over with, “And you are…?”

“No compulsion. How sweet! Well Voice, how would a melody describe itself?” The man said, and the afterimage of him made Jon’s eyes unfocous, and he had to fight to continue staring the impossible man down. 

Sasha rolled her eyes, squeezing Jon’s hand, “Your name then. Or whatever name you go by, I guess I can't judge.”

The man hummed, looking confused before giving a smile that should look normal, but Sasha was seeing double, the real him, and Jon’s vision of him. His smile was curling the skin at the edge, a tint of pink slicing through cheeks into a wider grin. 

“I suppose Michael would be a name I could go by. But I am not Michael.”

Sasha nods, taking in the information, “Ok. Why are you here-”

“-Ah ah ah, questions, questions, don’t ask them, you might not like what you find, Voice. To answer that though, I was curious. I saw the Archivist, and yet, it's not the Archivist. Your existence is just as curious as mine.” He twirls a strand of his hair in his human looking fingers, but she could see that the hair was the one twirling around freakishly large knife fingers.

“...Ok. No questions. Could- If. Shit this is hard.” Jon snorted, but he was still looking at the being called Michael. He was staring and Sasha could see the reflection of Madness in his glasses, Michaels swirling form making an appearance in the shine of Jon’s eyes. 

“You want to know about me. Well, terrible sorry, well not really, but I am the throat of delusion incarnate, and I do not have a self to know about!” He hummed, the sound slightly airy. 

Finally Sasha took a breath, “You said Voice like a title.”

Michael nods, “Yes Voice. I thought you were both the Archivist, and you’re not, but you are. Its quite intriguing, starting to stray into my own domain.”

Jon nods, and Sasha went to bite her nail before stopping herself, “Then that would make Jon the…”

Michael looked at them, eyes narrowed in amusement, “Why should I tell you?”

Sasha sighed, “I guess you don’t have to. There is no reason other than we are curious.”

He laughs, the sound hurting their ears, “Oh I would love to be friends!”

“Friends don’t lie to each other.” Sasha says, and she realizes that Jon was thinking that. 

“Well I am a lie Voice, that is what I will always be, you’ll have to deal with that.” Michael said.

Jon leaned over to her, having to boost himself on the chair arm a little to reach her ear, “We are going to be late to work. Tim and Martin are waiting.”

“Shit. Alright. Nice to make friends Michael. We have to leave though, work.” They stand, taking their food before realizing the pastries had started to flake apart into pixels, leaving them without food, the only reason they had stopped there in the first place. Sasha and Jon glared at Michael, who was trying, and failing at acting innocent. 

“Good to meet you Voice and,” He stops and then grins, the twisting making Jon’s eyes roll, “I’ll let you figure it out, curious little eyes.”

They were late for work.


	15. Elias Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapters Working Title was: I hate this Disgusting Bastard
> 
> Elias's thoughts once again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of Murder :)

Not being able to look into their flat was becoming an annoyance, but he was working with what he had. When they hung out at Tim and Martin’s he could easily watch them there without any of them noticing, his pet project and their annoyance of coworkers. 

Sasha was promising, just as much as he could have hoped actually. She had more of the archivist powers, compelling and pulling out secrets like teeth. There was also more curiosity in her that he had ever realized. Both with Naomi and what she did to the hunter she was rather testament to her growth. 

Jon was growing in ways Elias couldn’t exactly see. He was curious all the same, able to See things as they were, like a Hag Stone, seeing straight through the illusions. He was also Knowing more than Sasha. Overall they were fairly balanced, though that was because they were connected. 

It was a pleasant surprise that Jon and Sasha had already met the Distortion, it was still wearing the face of Michael, Gertrude Assistant, and he rather would not like to talk to the thing. Elias felt that he would rather drink bleach than deal with the It Lies. The Distortion was rather unpleasant through everything, their patrons being the exact opposite. He liked to save himself the headache.

Jon saw right through the illusion, and Sasha had gotten them close. How stupid of them, to think that thing would ever want to help.

Still he would let them play friends with it and their coworkers. 

If the coworkers got in the way though. Well. He could always stage an accident.


	16. Live Statement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Todays Working Title: I would die for the season one Archival Crew, but,,,, Ms King makes an appearance
> 
> As it says on the tin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: General Monster Spookiness
> 
> God I love writng, please feed me with comments! I love validation!

Jon and Sasha were in their office, the door open slightly, as Tim and Martin had asked them to keep it. There was a knock on the doorway, and Martin’s face leaked through. Jon smiled and waved before shoving himself back into work. Sasha didn’t even look up until Martin cleared his throat to get their attention again. 

“Yes Martin?” She asked, her eyes still on a statement. She shouldn’t have been able to know who it was without looking up but well… You know. 

Martin hummed, “Uh. Someone here to give a statement? A- A Melanie King I think.”

“Yes that's me.” She walked in, past Martin who was still half in the doorway. Martin said an apology before waving at them.

“I’ll bring tea afterwards.” And then he left. Jon watched him walk down the hallway until Melanie King shut the door. He looked up and they both zeroed in on the fact that she had A Statement, a live statement, a fresh one. It would be as fulfilling as Naomi’s was.

“I thought there was only one Head Archivist?” Melanie asked. She was a bit snappish, and Jon continued to watch her as Sasha smiled charmingly. 

“Oh well. I’m Sasha James, Head Archival Assistant actually. I do most of the talking since Jon, Jonathan Sims Head Archivist, had an accident-” She gestures to Jon’s throat and the terribly visible and slightly horrifying scar, it wa their to go excuse when anyone asked why there was two of them “-He’s not the best at taking live statements. Ah you said your name was-?”

They knew her name from the introduction but people rather liked introducing themselves.

“Melanie King, uh, I run Ghost Hunt Uk.”

“The Youtube Ghost hunting series?” Sasha asked, genuinely curious, her and Jon had started trying to find something other than documentaries to watch and after What the Ghost is was recommended. 

Melanie preened a little, smiling, “yeah.”

“Well it’s a good series. Ah Jon-” He already had the tape recorder going, and hummed before taking out a piece of paper, notes of anything important, though it was only for show. As soon as they heard the statement it would be there in their brains, as if engraved, and they would know all the important and noteworthy bits. 

“Wait, your recording on that thing? I knew you guys were a bit slapdash but this is ridiculous.”

Jon rolled his eyes, and as Melanie was about to confront him on that, Sasha took over again. 

“Real things don’t record on camera or anything digital actually. The first few statements we went through and read to the computer came out garbled and messy. Whatever horror you encounter, if it’s real, then it usually runs interference.” Sasha is so charismatic, Jon admired her ability to talk her way out of anything honestly. 

Melanie scoffs, “Alright. Uh what goes next?”

Sasha hummed, “Statement of Melanie King, regarding…-”

She took her cue, “-What happened at Cambridge Military Hospital.”

“Alright. Statement recorded-”

\--------

Sasha and Jon both nod at the same time as Melanie finally finishes her statement. Her throat sounds a bit raw, and Jon hopes that Martin had made her tea too, even if she was a bit rude. He was a bit rude so he had no leverage over that.

“Alright.” Sasha says. She looks sated, and Jon supposes he did too. Maybe Melanie saw the slight glow to their eyes, or maybe she didn’t. It was easy to overlook the slightly unsettling fed look, the look of, feeling full for the first time in a while. 

Melanie looked almost expectant, but also slightly dizzy, maybe vacant, “Uh is there you can do?”

“No not right now, we need follow up, research, and connections. We can give you two different numbers, one for us, if anything else scary happens, and a therapist for the traumatic response.” Sasha says. They knew this was real. They were a part of something bigger and more convoluted. This monster was like them. 

Melanie looked at them like she was in disbelief, “You- You believe me?”

“Oh course! We’ve seen quite a bit of supernatural things Ms. King.” Jon hides his laugh with a cough, and Melanie doesn’t seem to have caught his amusement. Sasha lowkey elbowed him.

Melanie nods, “uh. I’ll take the phone numbers I guess. Wait, you have a library here right? Is there any way I could get into that, do research for myself? No offense but I want to know what I’m dealing with.”

Jon and Sasha looked at eachother, and their eyes had a green tinge to it before Jon nodded, acting as if they were just thinking. Jon had zero authority over the library though.

“We can send you to talk to the library with a referral, but we can’t do much for people who don’t work here.” Sasha said absentmindedly while Jon started writing a note. 

Jons voice was low, “I’ll write an email as well.” 

The door opened and Melanie stood up, her voice was hoarse, something that seemed to happen to anyone who gave a statement, “I’ll be leaving now. Uh. Thanks I guess.”

Sasha waved the note for her to take and Melanie took it before leaving. She was walking fast, leaving the way she came. 

Martin was in the doorway looking in, “Uh tea break?”

Sasha and Jon look at each other and nod again. Jon smiles only slightly while getting up, and Sasha hums getting up herself. Martin walks ahead of them while Jon and Sasha start babbling about the statement, the nuances and what they should look out for. When they made it to the break room Tim was already in there, seemingly waiting for them to start the break. 

Martin starts making tea and Tim smiles at the three of them entering, “‘No more statement talk you two! It's officially break time. Only banter.”

“Ah yes ok Tim.” Jon rolled his eyes, but he was smiling slightly. He sits down and Sasha sits next to him, their hands still locked. 

Tim grins goodhearted. Martin looks back at them and smiles, hiding his face while making tea. It was nice. 

“I will of course be making us all go for drinks tonight! Where will we crash?”

Sasha laughs, “ Whichever flat is closest? But that's if any of us actually get drunk.”

Jon huffed and rolled his eyes, “Sometimes I like to not be blackout.”

Sasha laughed, “Well now you're not a lightweight! Like you used to be.”

“I think the supernatural connection. Not the amount of drinking we do.” Jon shoots back. 

Sasha shrugs, grinning. Jon huffs.

Tim smiled and mugs of tea were set down next to everyone. Jon took his with both hands, cradling the warmth. He was always cold, his hands freezing. Sasha was warm. Martin was warm too. 

Martin sits down, smiling ever so softly. Sasha and Jon both sipped their tea, Tim taking a gulp of his and then regretting it. He sputtered and they all laughed as he tried to cool the roof of his mouth. 

“Stupid.” Sasha says fondly. 

Tim grinned, taking in breath between his teeth, “You love me.”

“We all do… idiot.”


	17. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Title: You think they arent getting Canon trypical nightmares? False 
> 
> A recollection of nightmares, and one they do not share.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Jane Prentiss, Nightmares, Police Mentions, Slight Gore, Slight Body Horror, The Not Them, Almost Major Character Death
> 
> I am on my bullshit and I might not be able to get a chapter out tomorrow XD All the ideas had to be out NOW

There was a sludge of dreams for Jon and Sasha, a dynamic duo, most nights, where they both stand over Noami as she struggles, and after Melanie’s statement she was a figure there as well. A starring role in her own horror for the viewing pleasure of two people who didn’t want to be there.

They relived the night they woke up and Sasha called Jon, them both fearing for Martin having Known something was happening. A dream and a feeling that became the beginning. Jane Prentiss’s shambling form and disgusting holes littering her body like stardust full of wriggling wite. They relived the night, running, covered in worms, bleeding and crying. The night that they had truly started becoming what they were, their lives connecting like two intervening rivers. 

There was Jane Prentiss, then there was Gertrude’s body, she was dead in the tunnels for a long time, longer than they would have ever thought. She had been gone for weeks, dead for a week before Elias decided to promote Jon. They walked down there to see someone shooting her before she dropped. Dead in the line of work. They relived the damp archives tunnels, the fear of being bombarded by worms, only to find a much stranger horror waiting. 

They relived the terror of the Not Them, the shooting pain as one of them was being eaten alive by an identity stealing creature. The moment where they had seen each other, the moment where they thought the other was dead. The loss of their other half, something they had come to love so dearly almost ripped out like talons and claws. The fear of being without someone they need to survive. 

Oh and that night being stalked by the Officer, the Hunter. The night they Knew that they were connected, the night that had started with paranoia and stalking. Jon and Sasha are scared and clutching hands. The sudden drop of their stomachs as they are ripped apart, Jon going down, cold metal on his throat. The terror that came with scraped knees and glaring down at a beast that had attacked them. 

The aftermath of that night, terror that one of them would die, bleed out on the couch and get no justice. 

That night they lived through the sludge of picked up fears and experiences that they would relive. Then something else happened. 

A more human nightmare, they didn’t even realize it was a dream until the very end. They did not share this dream, for the first time in months they did not share a dream, something so strange that they had cherished. Because at least if they were nightmares they weren’t alone.

The archives were dim as they were wont to be, stacks of files still around since Jon and Sasha were not able to clean up decades worth of systematic errors in months, sadly. The assistants chairs were slightly out of place, ajar from their desks. The lights in the breakroom were flickering. 

Jon was alone. Sasha was not with him and he was not worried, but he could feel her. She was in the breakroom. He could hear their laughing and joy. 

He walked in, his footsteps echoing as if he was walking through a theatre backstage. Jon peeks in before the three of them notice him. They all tower over him, and he's used to this, but they don't’ acknowledge him. He Knows they saw him, he Knows they know he's here, but they do not turn to greet him, only continuing their banter but quieter he can't hear it. 

Jon walks over, carefully, “Hello?”

They heard him. They do not care. 

“Sasha? Martin? Tim?” His voice is so small, raggedy as if was the first few weeks of talking again, after the huntress. 

Finally this gets their attention, only his second attempt, but it is not attention he wants.

“What do you want?” Sasha asks, her voice was cold and he flinched. What was happening? They were a team.

“Spit it out Jon. You’re wasting our time.” Tim said, his voice was cheerful with an edge of danger, his eyes were wrong.

Martin did not even speak to him, his eyes uncaring and hateful. Sasha’s gaze almost burned, his heart beating so fast he could throw up.

At the same time, Sasha has her dream. 

The Archives are cold, how Jon likes to keep them so he can wear sweaters and thicker clothes, he says it better for files and she knows he is right. She is confused, why is Jon not with her? He is in his office, she knows, she feels it, so she ventures.

He looks up from his work, his all too human eyes glaring at her, “What?”

His tone is snappish and almost like what he was like the first week of his promotion. Sasha knows how much everyone hated the tone, why is Jon acting like that? He is so cold to her.

“Yes? Are you just going to stand there and be useless?” 

The door opens and in the doorway is Tim, who looks at her with disdain. He does not even spare her a second glance past the first glare. He is talking but she can't hear him, the words warbled like she was underwater. Jon’s office started to warp and change and somehow it was normal. She did not notice anything was wrong.

Martin walks in with two cups of tea, hands one to Tim and Jon, his eyes merely missing her. Jon and Tim smile and thank him. She is unincluded. Forgotten.

\------

Jon and Sasha wake up, sweating and tangled in blankets that are piled on high over them. Jon’s legs are tangled with Sasha’s somehow they ended up on opposite ends of the couch, Sasha’s foot was on his stomach. They both were injured but the others scrambled legs in their fit to jump at each other. 

They were crying, eyes glowing and sad. Sasha’s head was cradled in the crook of Jon’s neck, her tears starting to run down his collarbone. It was a bad one.Jon was crying into her hair. Their arms were clutching at each other as if it would save them from the end of the world. Jon could feel Sasha’s nails on his back, and he was thankful he bit his down so he wouldn’t be stabbing her.

They were sitting awkwardly, while they cried and let it all out. It was terrible, their unshared nightmare that was so similar. As soon as they left the dream, neither of them had shared it with the other. Seeing yourself be terrible to the person you loved so dearly, that you were connected to, would just make the late night depression fest even worse. So they held off on sharing that for the night, saving it for when they were both less rattled by their nighttime terror.

Soon they got more comfortable, laying down cuddling chest to chest. Jon was starting to breathe normally again and Sasha was well on her way to not being in the middle of a nervous breakdown. Their legs were still tangled but Sasha’s were a good deal longer. 

They laid together for a bit before Jon hummed, “Late night food run, take out minds off it?”

“Add in an iced coffee afterwards and I’m down.”

He snorted and they stayed down a bit longer, before getting up and going to get Thai in the middle of the night in pyjamas.


	18. Suprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Working Title of todays chapter was: Damn I dont know what to write (head Empty No ideas)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW; General Spookiness

Maybe it should have been a surprise to find Melanie King joining the archives crew. The day she walked through the door, Elias behind her smiling like he was proud as could be. It was quiet that day, Jon and Sasha had been in their office, door slightly ajar. Martin and Tim were looking through research notes and flagging anything that wouldn’t be digitized. The door to the Archives shut with a loud bang, as if to signal that all attention be given to the newest issue in the room. 

Jon and Sasha peeked out of the office, looking a bit like a cartoon, before swiftly extracting their heads. They shared a brief silent conversation and they both walked out, not hand in hand, as if to maintain some professionalism. Tim snickered, but they gave him a heatless glare. 

As the four archival staff were looking at them and waiting, Melanie was fidgeting. The weight of all their gazes might have been quite a lot, considering two of them were creatures of curiosity and the other two were very close with said creatures. Or maybe, Melanie was nervous. She looked different than before, outfit wise. Her pink hair was tied up into a professional ponytail, and she wore a button up with nicer pants. She looked up to dress code. Oh.

Elias gave a smile, it was slimy as they usually were, “Ms. King here is joining the archival team as a research assistant! I assume you got the email?”

Jon and Sasha did not get the email, but that might be because they did not look at the computer unless necessary, since the only reason it was needed was to write spreadsheets for the new system that was still being heavily constructed.

The way he said it made Jon’s hackles raise, Sasha put a hand on his shoulder to calm his slight anger. 

Melanie waved.

Elias waited as if to have them talk and Sasha took it from there, “Thank you, Mr. Bouchard.”

“Of course, tell me if there are any problems that need sorting. You’ll show her around I hope?” His hands are clasped together like a caricature of a capitalist and it makes all four of them bristle with unseen annoyance, though it seems likely that Elias already knew. There was something so not normal about him. Jon and Sasha already knew he was like them, though it slipped their mind to tell Tim or Martin. 

“Of course.” Jon echoes back, and Elias grins.

“Enjoy the Archives Ms. King.” He leaves up the stairs, and the archives door was closing behind him, a resounding bang at it always was. Melanie is still standing at the bottom, unsure of what to do. 

Sasha clears her throat, “Alright. Well. Uh Melanie, let's give you a tour I guess. It’ll be good to take a break from statements.”

It was said like taking a break was painful, and maybe it was. They were always so consumed in their work, something that probably got them into this stupid mess in the first place. 

“Uh, okay.”

Tim stands up and Martin goes along with it. He would probably ask how she takes her tea after the tour, they could all sit and talk. Except they couldn't. There was now an outsider who didn’t Know about them, their habits, who they were, what they could do. It was something all too sobering for the both of them, and Tim and Martin seem to have caught on. 

Thankfully they can all keep a secret well enough.

Sasha stretches, “So! We can go through the entire archives and things, the tour, and then we can explain the filing system.”

Melanie looks at all four of them, “I came here so I could research what happened to me. Free access to the library.”

Jon blinked multiple times, as if he had forgotten to, “Oh.”

Sasha looked much the same, “So you’re telling us you joined the Archives without even thinking about the work?”

“Yeah. Kind of.” She sounded a bit sheepish. After a moment, Tim was laughing at the absurdity of the whole thing.

“If nothing else I can just quit if it's too terrible.” Melanie says.

Jon hummed, “Suppose you’re right.”

Sasha sighed, “Well the tour can incide the way to the library then!”

\-----

There was something weird in the archies. Melanie knew. She had been around the scariest places to film, and she had been urban exploring too many times to not know that feeling in her gut when something is more than dramatization for a camera. She's seen actual horror, real things that inspire the worst feeling in your stomach to pool like musty water, that anxiety. 

So when she said something was wrong in the archives, she knew that she was on the money. 

There was the crew. They were nice enough but there was something strange about their interactions with her. As if she were an outsider, and she supposed she was. It was a different sort of outsiderness than being new to a job. It was like, there was a big game of cosmic proportions, that they knew about and were playing, that she did not. It was like they didn’t want to tell her about it either. 

Martin was sweet enough, he made tea, asked how she took hers, even if she wouldn’t be there much. 

They didn’t seem to care or be angry that she wasn’t going to be working often, just researching. She would have thought after seeing all of that there might be some vague annoyance that she was coming to drain a paycheck and not even be sort of useful. She still had a youtube crew but it was the only way to get free unrestricted access to that library.

They tiptoed around certain subjects, glancing at each other as if to make sure no one had made a wrong move. She felt monitored, watched. Maybe it was just how weirdly archives were formatted, but it felt like there was something looking deep into you. It Knew you.

That was not even talking about the Head Archivist and Head Archival Assistant. At first she had been sure they were dating. It wouldn't explain so much, but it didn’t fit them. It was like jamming a puzzle piece into the wrong place, janky. 

Still. Melanie King did not like the archives, and she did not like being left out of the loop, but she had a lot on her plate.

\-------

“Movie night! You all agreed on it last week.” Tima said with a grin, “I’m thinking Coraline.”

“The movie about the little blue haired girl and the weird spindly Mum?” Jon asked. Tim nodded enthusiastically, about to pull it up on his phone. 

Jon and Sasha were hand in hand sitting in the breakroom. They had a bag full of statements in case the others fell asleep before them and lef them to their devices. Once a workaholic, always a workaholic. 

Martin turned and laughed, “Are we getting takeout or?”

“Jon can you cook?” He got three pairs of puppy dog eyes and he glared at Sasha. She laughed at the face he was giving. 

“We will have to go to the grocery store beforehand if you want me to cook.”

“Shopping trip!” Tim says. That was the moment Melanie walked in, holding a bag, probably full of research notes. 

They all go a little quieter, to be respectful since now they weren't the only ones down there. Melanie only gave them a glance before grabbing something and leaving. 

“So… What are you gonna make?”


	19. A Surprise Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter working title was: God No Thoughts Head Empty. 
> 
> I have no clue when Ideas come to me its like random flashes of brain activity. Thanks god ;)
> 
> Anyway. Helen Richardson!

Looking up to see Tim leading in a frazzled woman, Jon and Sasha stopped their work. Martin was at his desk, Melanie was in the library, and Tim was right there. Jon’s mind supplied that this was Helen Richardson, and she had just encountered a monster. Her statement would be real and fulfilling, tasting of contradictions and confusion. By extension Sasha knew as well, her eyes not as piercing as Jon’s were, staring at their newest statement giver. Some blackened part of them heard Meal.

Tim looked at them and gestured to Helen, “This is Helen Richardson, she's here to give a statement.”

“Yes of course. Come on in Ms. Richardson.”

When Helen came in she was frantic and was writing on a paper with a shitty pen, it was a miracle that the paper had not torn under her ferocious scribbling. Tim left looking at them before giving a shrug, closing the door quietly. Helen sat down, bumping into her chair and everything else until she was sitting down passably.

“Ms. Richardson-” Sasha tried, but Helen was scratching her pen on the paper, it was terrifying even, to see her so intent on this paper. 

“It’s all just spirals and left turns it makes no sense-!”

“No it doesn’t Ms. Richardson. Here we can look at this while you give your statement ok? Just tell us what happened, would you?” Her voice was soothing as she took the makeshift map from Helen’s shaking hands. They both gave a soft smile to her, a mirrored image of an illusion of safety of kindness, the lulling hum of compulsion filling the air.

“Of course. Sorry. Statement of Helen Richardson regarding a door…”

“I am sorry that happened to you Helen.” Jon said softly. Helen looked shocked but she gave a shaky smile.

“I’m just glad you think I’m not crazy.” She wiped her face, as if wiping away tears. Sasha nodded sympathetically, they both held out their hands in a soothing gesture and Helen took them. She was shaking still and her voice was a bit husky. 

Sasha hummed, “That was a being called Michael, he is confusing and I think he causes chaos for fun. I suggest double checking doors from now on, being careful. I’m sorry there isn’t much we can do but give you our number and a recommendation for therapy.”

Helen’s head cocked about to ask about the therapy.

“It's good to talk to someone after all of these kinds of things. Trauma from supernatural things can show up in many ways. It's also something we do for everyone who seems shaken.” Sasha said, Helen took her hands back and nodded. Jon wrote down a few recommendations, and their own number. The woman took it with a smile.

“Thank you for this.”

“”It’s no issue.”” Both Jon and Sasha said before looking at each other with a ‘really?’ face. Helen seemed to find it funny, giggling slightly before standing up and leaving. 

Jon and Sasha started to silently talk about the statement, their eyes glowing. Jon stood and started to rifle through statements, reaching up high though his hands wouldn't reach, until Sasha grabbed it for him. There was a silent thank you as she handed it to him, but he did grumble something about a stepladder. They went to sit back down and look through the files, all about a yellow door, something that was interconnected with the stranger they met that day at the cafe. 

A door opened and their eyes shot up, slightly green glowing things staring at the door to their office. It was closed. Jon’s head snapped to the left of the office door to see a garish yellow one, one that Helen Richardson had described, one that had been described by many people. 

Michael appeared out of it, Jon’s mind swum and Sasha could see he was more inhuman down here than he was pretending to be at the cafe. His form made an afterimage of rainbow, curling blond hair reaching as if it was made of crawling vines. 

“Voice and… Jon! Hello.” He grinned, seeing the irritation on both of their faces. “The lost traveler always comes back, after a brief respite.”

Sasha looked up, face triumphant, “Helen left. You can't have her!”

“Through which door did she leave though?” He said, a grin starting to curl at the edges up and up and impossibly higher and curlier. A calligraphy of a swirling smile. 

“”Shit”” they both said.

“Let her go!” Sasha said, standing up violently, her hands slammed the desk.

Michael only hummed, holding up his large bony hands as if in defeat, “She belongs to the halls now. Nothing you can do about it.”

"They're your hallways! Just let her out! You can't have her. We promised-"

"Listen voice, does your hand in any way own your leg? The Hallways are a separate part of the distortion." He gestured with his hand to his legs, as if to drive the point home to the fuming silent beholding creatures. 

Jon and Sasha were both angry. They thought that they could help her! What was the point of having supernatural abilities if not to help others, protect those who need it. They grabbed hands, their fingers squeezing hard on the other. It was grounding at least, a crushing pressure. Michael cooed at them, as if they were a set of baby twins that just said their first words. 

“Ok. Fine. We can’t help her. Why are you here?” Sasha asked. Jon was staring at his impossible form. While he was more impossible in the archives, Jon could still see the True Madness that ran underneath him. A haze of flicking colors and panic inducing fractals, his eyes were watering while he looked directly into a vortex to insanity.

Michael made a face at the question, “Just to make friends! Stop trying to use your Voice powers on me. It’s unpleasant.” He laughed, the sound again hurting their ears. Jon’s nose started to bleed, though neither of them noticed. Michael did, though he only grinned like the cat who got the cream, and folded his arms.

“Sorry.” Sasha didn’t exactly know how to turn it off, though she didn’t notice she was doing anything, “Make friends. That entails...”

“Just popping in to say hi! You two are quite interesting you know.”

Jon made a face “Yes you’ve said.”

“Feisty. Keep your feline down Voice... You’ve got something..” He pointed to his own nose, and Jon's confused face went a bit shocked while he wiped the blood away with his sweater sleeve, not even realizing how bad of an idea that would be. Now he'd have to wash it later but he wasn’t thinking about that. No, they were thinking about how close Michael had gotten in the few seconds they had both looked away. 

Sasha cried out as Michael's sharp finger stabbed through the flesh of her shoulder. 

“Shit!” She yelped. Jon was ready to absolutely throw down with Michael as he laughed. 

“What the hell! You just come in here to stab her!” Jon was taking off his sweater to help her apply pressure to her shoulder. 

Michael hummed, “I didn’t come down here to stab the Voice but it happened. Keep you on your toes, both of you.” He laughed softly, the noise still causing hellish amounts of blood to come from Jon’s nose, and Sasha cried out in pain again, angrily applying more pressure before they could go get their friends. 

The yellow door closed and the door to their office opened. Tim and Martin were in the office trying to help them, Martin already calling up a hospital.

“What happened?” Tim asked, he was torn between how much blood these two idiots could produce. Neither were much help, since they both felt a headache and the pain of being stabbed by the literal incarnate of Crazy. They brought both of them up the lobby, where Rosie only glanced at them and raised a brow before going back to her work. They sat on the bench waiting for a ride to the hospital, Sasha and Jon reeling. Tim and Martin are trying to guess what happened. 

\-------

Jon was passed out outside in the waiting room, both Tim and Martin there. They supposed they should be thankful, since he would feel the pain of Sasha’s stitches if he was awake, and that would be a nightmare to all of them. His clothes were still covered in both his and Sasha's blood, his sweater was thrown away sadly. It lived a good sweater life at least.

Sasha was inside, asleep and dreamless from the kind of anesthesia they used. She was being stitched up as they spoke. 

“What… What could have happened?” Martin asked, his voice almost washed away by the ambient noises of the waiting room. A TV playing some nonsense or the news, people talking in whispers, crying. 

Tim sighed, his eyes looking far off, “I don’t know. It could have been any spooky monster that appears.” 

At the word spooky they look at Jon, almost expecting him to jolt awake to tell him off about that word. 

“They do seem to get in a good amount of trouble, huh?” He gives a small humorless laugh, Tim huffs one as well. 

“They do. I don’t know what we’d do if we weren’t running them to an A&E every couple of weeks.”

Martin snickered genuinely this time, “I don’t either. I think they're going to start remembering our names.”

“They already have Jon and Sasha memorized. The Nurses just look and see them and go, ‘Ah them again business as usual.’” Tim mimics a high woman's voice before getting a glare from one of the nurses passing. They both look down and try to hide their laughter. Jon was still a dead weight in his chair, but at least he wasn’t dead. 

“Sasha’s going to be ok right?” Tim asked the sleeping man, and Jon twitched in his sleep. Martin put a hand on Jon’s cheek, to check and make sure he didn’t have a temperature, and he leaned into it slightly.

Martin sighs, “I think she’ll be ok. I worry about them. A lot.”

“We can tell when you worry Mr. Mother Hen.” Tim winks, and Martin rolls his eyes. 

“I’ll just stop giving you medicine for your hangovers then party animal.”

“Wait no I was joking-”

“Are you two here for Sasha James?” A nurse said, she was looking cautiously at Jon in a side eye. He was unconscious and covered in blood still. 

Tim took the lead, being the best with charming others, “Yes we are. Is she ok?” His voice was soft with concern.

“She’ll be fine to leave in a day or two. She will need steady pain killers though, which you can get in the pharmacy just down the road. Also, I want to know what happened? Just checking to make sure it wasn’t anything drug related or a criminal offense, domestic abuse-” The nurse was going to continue before Tim interrupted. 

“It was an unruly person at work. We work at a research institute and someone did not like that she had no information on a certain subject. Stabbed her and ran off, we don’t even know the bloke that did it.” Tim looked sheepish. The nurse seemed to not buy it.

“And him?”

“He was there, helping her. And he has chronic nosebleeds, you understand.” Tim said, all with an award winning smile. The nurse nodded. 

“Ok, well you can’t go in to visit her until she wakes up-”

That was the moment Jon woke up, eyes blinking open so fast it was like light speed, they were still a bit red from how terribly his eyes hurt from staring at Michael too long. He looked around and took a breath.

“We’re awake.” He mumbled under his breath, before looking down at his white shirt and being disgruntled about destroying two items of clothes. 

The nurse looked at him confused, “What?”

“Can you check if she’s awake please?” Jon asked. He knew better, after accidentally Knowing things, than to act like he knew. People seemed to freak out when you knew things you shouldn't.

The nurse nodded, and bustled away. 

They were allowed to visit her, since she kicked up a fuss about not having people there. Tim went and bought a shirt from a corner store just so Jon had something not disgusting to wear. He changed in the bathroom and all three of them sat with Sasha, who still looked a mess from the whole situation.

Tim took a breath of relief, "We told the nurses it was a rando off the streets who came to give a statement. What actually happened?"

Sasha looked at them, “Fucking Michael.”

Jon looked at her for a second and they both started to laugh. Martin and Tim don’t know who Michael was, or why in the world they were laughing and saying fuck him. But they assumed that he had stabbed Sasha. 

“Uh. Explain stuff to us please. We aren’t all knowing you know.” Martin asks politely.

“Oh. Sorry. Did we not tell you both about Michael?”


	20. Recovering and Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter working title was: Melanie thinks some things are sus and also, good old found family bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW; Mentions of Injury, Medication, Pain. Joke made about a shelf being homophobic. Dunno if its a trigger I just wanted to be sure

Jon hums, picking up two boxes out of the seven that got delivered. Sasha thought about trying to help but a glare and quick, “No Ma’am” from Jon had her sitting back down in a huff. She wasn’t allowed to help grab the boxes because she was still physically injured. Jon may hurt the same, but there was no chance of him destroying any stitches, so he helped with boxes and heavy lifting with minimal complaints.

Tim took the next two, grinning like he was about to win the lottery, “Will you even be able to build any of these shelves by yourself boss?”

“Absolutely not.” Jon said. Martin almost dropped his three boxes on his feet from laughing too hard, and Jon glared, which looked a bit more like a wet cat’s glare than anything else.

Tim snorted taking his two boxes easily, where Jon was struggling, “Alrighty well I guess that means today is build shelves day? A break from the spooky papers and horrifying things that go bump in the night.”

Jon rolled his eyes, but before he could comment, Sasha giggled answering for them, “There's never a break from the spooky here Tim! Not when Jon and I are here.” 

Tim’s head was thrown back in laughter, the archives finally feeling lighter than before, probably because they spent institute money on new lights, “Yes well we love you both anyway. Spooky Creatures of the Dark Archive.”

Jon groaned at the joke, a small smile on his face though. Sasha grinned, “Creatures of the Dark Archives? Like a cheap horror film. And of course you love us, we are lovable!”

The door to the Archives opens and Melanie is there, holding an armful of research, “Am.. Am I interrupting something?”

“No no! We’re just getting shelves together. What brings you down to hell from the library?” Tim says. Jon sits the two boxes on Martin’s desk and walks to grab a toolbox that was hidden in document storage. How did he know it was there? No clue. Sasha followed, just to keep him in eyesight, sitting back in the rolly chair when he came back, their paranoia still strong. The box was huge, which was weird for an archive tool box. 

He hefts it up and glares at it as if it had personally wronged him, “There must be bricks in there or something.”

Sasha grinned, patting his shoulder, “You’re just tiny.”

Jon made a face at her, and must have said something funny or amusingly annoyed through their brain connection because she cackled.

Melanie watched from the top of the stairs, her eyes skittering from person to person, analysing, “Uh. Just coming down here to research? Do you need any help with shelves?”

Martin shook his head, “Not really unless you want to help.” He gave a smile, before setting down the three heavier boxes on his desk. “Boxcutter?”

“Uh. Here.” Jon handed him the boxcutter and went to sit next to Sasha on the ground to start reading instructions. 

“You sure I can’t help?” Sasha asked, pouting. Jon gave her a look and she carefully kicked him, knowing it would hurt her too. He scowled at her, and she stuck out her tongue.

“Hey!” 

Martin and Tim snickered, grabbing their instructions and the four of them sat in a circle building the shelves. Melanie went to her desk to start going through things, her eyes looking over every once in a while. She was working both on a new video idea and whatever happened to Sarah Baldwin, but she was curious to the archival staff dynamic. She tried not to stay down there, even now that they were trying to make it more homey.

“This is homophobic.” Tim said as he facepalmed. Jon was doing good with his shelf, and Martin was doing great with his. Tim was struggling.

Sasha snorted, “Not everything that inconveniences you is homophobic.”

“It is.”

“Sources?” Martin asked over his shoulder, a small smile on his face. 

Tim groaned, “You all hate me, this is bullying.”

Sasha grinned, “If you call this bullying wait until Jon gets annoyed.”

Jon looks up at them from his well built shelf, “Wait until I’m done with my shelf and I’ll help you stop being useless with a screwdriver.”

Tim cried out in mock offense, “I’m more depressed that you’re doing better than me, you said you wouldn’t be able to build them by yourself.”

“It seems I lied. I’m actually very capable.” Jon huffed. Sasha snickered, she knew the only reason he was doing well was that he could remember what he read like a photograph. Tim still pouted, before dropping his act, grinning and winking. 

“‘Timothy Stoker I will fire you.”” Jon and Sasha looked at each other with a face that said, “Ma’am my line.”

Jon huffed, “I'm the one with the authority to fire him.”

“And?”

For a second he looked thoughtful before raising an eyebrow, “Fair enough.”

Jon could not build the rest of his shelf until he turned it horizontal, and he did so before continuing. Sasha was still watching as he did stuff before looking away to start looking through some boxes. She could still file at least, it was nothing strenuous. 

“Wrong screw Jon.” She said, not even looking at him. Jon hummed and fixed his mistake. 

Melanie saw this and then her attention was more on watching whatever the hell interactions were going on over on the floor. They had pushed away most desks to make room for the building. There were pages of instructions on the floor scattered and the separate ‘workstations’ were filled with screws and parts of all sizes.

“Tim can you go take down-” Jon started.

“Shelf 1.C-” Sasha interjected.

“-We’re going to replace it first.” he finished. Sasha pointed to the exact shelf, as if Tim didn’t know which one. Tim stood and nodded going to take all the boxes and files off of it before he was allowed to drag it out of archives.

Martin hummed before taking out the Tape Organizer and starting up on building it. He was used to building things since he was a little thing.

Melanie watched as Jon and Sasha finished the sentence like they were the same person. It was strangely neat, clean. As if they had planned it, or, as if they shared the same thought. It was seriously freaky but somehow it made sense, it took her awhile to notice how strange the whole thing was. It was like natural to those two, for them to be connected in a way they shared thoughts and everything else.

Melanie blinked. That's weird. That's the weird thing! Those two were obviously creepy and she was being kept out of the archival monster nonsense. Well. Not for long…

Jon hummed leaning his head on Sasha’s tight as she was still next to him in her rolling chair. 

“That's terrible-”

“For my back, yes I know.”

Sasha rolled her eyes, but they both smiled the same smile without looking at each other. Tim dropped a box.

“”Tim!”” Jon and Sasha’s heads snapped to give him a disappointed look.

“It’s fine, nothing’s broken! Nothing out of place I swear!” he held his hands up in defeat. He was smiling, and Martin smiled himself. 

Sasha stood, stretching before both her and Jon winced, “”Pain Medication.””

“I’m the one who gets the pain meds.” Sasha said. Jon gave a glare with no heat.

“Well then take them, you’re killing us both.” 

“I’ll be out for the count for the rest of the day. Those things knock us out.”

Jon huffed annoyed. Sasha looked around and then she saw Melanie. They must have forgotten she was down there, but they tried to act like they didn’t notice her. They were quiet for a bit, both of them sort of in pain. 

“Once we finish building these do you two need to take the rest of the day off?” Martin asked.

Jon and Sasha sighed, but Sasha answered, “Yeah probably. I need a nap.”

Tim smiled, “Never thought I’d hear either of you willingly leave work early.”

Sasha flipped him off and Jon made a face, “Language.”

“That was not a word.” Sasha said matter of factly.

Jon gave an unimpressed face and Sasha tried to hide her smile, “Sign Language.”

Martin snickered, trying to hide his smile behind his hand, turning away. Tim laughed, setting down the box he was taking from a shelf down softly.

“I’ll make tea.” Martin says. Tim continued his work, and Jon started to finish his third shelf. He was still wincing though.

Melanie was sure he wasn’t injured though, she was sure only Sasha had been stabbed. Though she wasn’t exactly involved until Tim and Martin came in one day and told her offhandedly that Sasha got stabbed and was on medical leave. 

Martin comes back with tea and all of them take a break for a minute, he even brought Melanie some, not forgetting she was there. All of them were quiet for a bit, as if uncomfortable with the energy in the room. After a while she got distracted by a book that sounded close to what she was thinking about and she paid no attention to them.

It was an hour of building before Jon and Sasha went home early, getting home and texting Martin and Tim separately before Sasha took her pain medicine with a glass of water and they both got changed. 

Then they were asleep on the couch in under half an hour.


	21. Learning Experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapters title is: Melanie Likes to Know, also Spooky Camera Exposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of Camera Malfunctions, LOTS OF EYE IMAGERY, Swear words but those are a given with me

The archives were as good as pitch black, only a few of the lamps on due to Jon and Sasha not truly caring, no care to the overhead lights. It was illuminating only the walk down the archives steps and enough to see what they were reading in their office, the door opened as they had snuck in to get some extra work done. Neither were much afraid of the dark, so in the dark they would sit, a lamp on the desk. 

It made the archives seem larger than it was. Or maybe smaller than it should be. It was always either claustrophobic, or much to many halls and shelves. The newest shelves were now surrounded with boxes, them box bickering about the filing system. The old ones had been dragged off to another department. 

It was three in the morning, and they had finally shaken the pain of the stabbing. Elias had given them a few more days off, smiling as if he had known something was weird. He was so pleased about them being injured and they could tell he was. Both of them were curious as to why he was always so pleased to see them come back from the hospital, a new scar on one of them, but they were fairly sure it was for some evil reason. Maybe he just wanted them to be hurt.

That wouldn’t surprise either of them.

They worked and filed and ordered. Jon was in charge of labelling tapes and where to put them, ordering them in their new filing system. Sasha Heard the door to the archives close and they both whipped around, standing up and getting ready to fucking traumatize and/or decimate a monster, maybe their boss. Either was fine. 

“What the fuck!” Oh. It was not a monster or their boss, who was probably a monster.

Melanie held a camera, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open in horror. They were probably lucky she didn’t have a knife on her person, because she might have stabbed them. Coming out of their office at three in the morning, eyes glowing and both looking hostile as rabid animals. There was something else just utterly unnatural about them, walking much too fast, hand in hand, the mirrored stares. Sasha had her mouth open ready to scream a question, to make the intruder feel their worst, drag out their terror. 

“Melanie! What are you doing here?” Jon asked. Sasha would have, but her voice was keyed up for a painful extraction, not whatever confrontation that was happening here. 

Melanie looked at both of them like they were crazy, which to be fair all of them must be to be at work so early, “Good question. Why are you two here?”

Sasha took a deep breath, they were both on the verge of hyperventilating at the shock, “We asked first.”

Melanie raised her eyebrow, “And you two have glowing eyes and are on camera.”

“Astute observation.” Jon said deadpan, Sasha elbowed him and he pouted. 

She huffed, running her free hand over her hair, “Working. Why do you have a camera?”

“I wanted to show my viewers my workplace and I couldn’t sleep.” She looked lost for a second touching her throat, “How?”

“Can you turn your camera off? It's rude to video people without consent.” Sasha said. The glowing was gone, and they looked normal! So stupidly normal.

Melanie pulled her camera away from them, as if they were going to grab it from her or something, “Are you even people?”

“Ah. Mostly?” Jon said, him and Sasha looked at eachother, seemingly having a conversation with their facial expressions. 

Her face twisted into that of annoyed confusion, “What the hell do you mean ‘mostly’ that does not make me feel any better!”

“‘Hey we don’t know either!”’ Jon and Sasha defended, they crossed their arms after letting go of each other's hand. It was a fluid motion, almost as if practiced, but it wasn’t.

“Ok. No games. What is going on down here?” Her voice was dangerous, her eyes flashing with something like curiosity and murder. She looked ready to hurt them at any second should they say something wrong, even if they could ruin her in seconds.

Jon and Sasha glanced at each other, “no camera. They wont even pick us up if we don’t want them to.” They had learned this after Tim tried to take a picture of them and they got annoyed and the whole photo was distorted and pixelated. 

For a second she looks hesitant, taking out her phone and texting someone, after a second her phone dinged seven times and she closed her phone out and placed it back into her pocket.

“Did you just text someone your location?” Jon asked disbelieving. Sasha was trying to hide her laugh.

Melanie flipped them off, “I’m not going to be killed and left a What The Ghost episode down here. Screw that.”

“Sorry sorry! We aren’t gonna kill you! Damn.” Sasha muttered.

“Language.”

“Next time you tell me language Jon I’m going to pick up up like a sack of potatoes.” Sasha threatened.

“You can look in my mind. How do you not know that sounds like-”

“A fun time!” Sasha grins.

Jon huffs, looking at Sasha who was poised to do exactly what she threatened to. Melanie watches and then clears her throat, “Uh. Explanation?”

“”Sorry.””

\--------

Melanie stared at them. After the explanation she saw them bickering. Both out loud and in their heads, interchangeably. It was like only hearing one side of the argument when they started using words instead of eye contact. It was a lot, but they weren’t even paying attention to her anymore. 

She got out her camera, looking through the footage. Starting from the beginning was better, to learn more, even if she wanted to skip straight to where she caught literal paranormal evidence on tape! Just like the Sarah Baldwin thing though, the tape would likely be distorted.

The video was slightly shaky, but it showed the Magnus Institute, large doors and everything, even the stupid window that was in the directors office. The lobby was empty, no one there, since it was like three o’clock. Deadly still was everything, not even the vent was making a sound.

As her hand goes to check the archives door, an ancient thing opens easily, “Damn did they not lock up?” She says to herself more than the camera. The walk down the stairs was creepy and she whispered.

“You will not believe how creepy it is down here even during work hours. Thankfully I'm always up in the library.” The only lights are showing through the office. Melanie is off camera but you can hear her breathing. You could hear movement from in front of the camera that was not Melanie.

Then the sound of the archives door closing startled her, there was a flash of green and movement. The video focused in on them, their forms grainy other than their eyes that stared. There were more than there should be, on where Sasha’s mouth opened, in the back of her throat. Eyes opened all around Jon, on his face and neck, surrounding his face, obscuring all his features. 

“What the fuck!” And the rest of the footage was unusable, completely distorted, voices obscured and going pitches higher, hurting her ears. 

The only thing that you could hear was, “turn off the camera.” before the screen went black and the audio gave a metallic screaming. Then the clip ended. No one even said those exact words. It was like it was straight projected from their mind, a screaming voice enraged at the digital camera daring to exist near it.

Jon and Sasha were now looking over curious.

“”Can we see?”” they looked like overeager puppies and she held her camera close. She looked at it, contemplating before waving them over to come watch it again with her.

Melanie watched as they started at her camera scream, not even flinching at the noises. Their eyes sparkled with something both excited and curious and scared.

“That’s never happened before.” Sasha said.

“The Eyes are new.” He said before turning to Melanie, “Can we have a copy of this?”

Melanie finds herself nodding.

They both smiled at her like she had just told them they had won the lottery. Then they were babbling about what this could possibly mean, they were talking faster than Melanie could process.

“Oh. Melanie, can you.. Not post that please?” Jon asked. She nodded.

“No one would even believe it.” She said mournfully, “But can I make a video of the workplace later?”

“Of course.” Sasha said, “Just ask Tim and Martin permission to film them and you have our blessing.”

It's quiet and Jon and Sasha look up, “”We’re going to go get food do you want anything from the cafe?””

Melanie considers for a second before shrugging, trying to get used to their full antics. She was getting only a peak of how weird they were when they were trying to hide it, “Sure. Vanilla iced coffee and a chocolate chip croissant?”

Sasha grinned, “Someone with taste.”

“Caramel is best. You both are just terrible.” Jon said, his voice so matter of fact, it made her snicker. 

Maybe it was too early, because Melanie wasn’t too terrified about her boss/sort of boss. Now she knew them, it was harder to be afraid, better the monster you know right? When they were almost out of the door Jon turned.

“Don’t post anything with us being weird today.” And he was gone.

That was when the situation fell on her like a ten ton anvil. Her bosses were monsters. They could have killed her, or at the very best traumatized her. Her yell of shock was what saved her from a lifetime of hellish memories resurfacing right at that moment. Oh but she was so curious! This was real time supernatural happenings. She had proof of the ghastly things that haunt this world and that's almost worth almost being murdered. 

She also had a question, because they looked almost exactly like the monsters that had haunted her nightmares before she joined the Magnus Institute.


	22. Elias Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter Working Title Was: Aka Exposition via Bastardry
> 
> I love using his chapters as exposition, time skips, and giving just a little hint of something that make you loose your minds ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Eli*s, Talks of Violence, Talks of manipulation, all per the syllabus

Having his ‘Archivists’ getting another assistant was always a pleasure, another thing that could get him closer to his goal, and the Voice and Gaze to completion. They were honestly so easy to grow, it would like letting weeds grow from the concrete with those two. Something he just loved was that Melanie was an angry one, even if there was some compassion in the way. Compassion can be done away with, during the right circumstances. Oh she didn’t trust him, but it was seemingly like that with all archives staff now. At least they weren’t ruining plans, just making his life slightly less amusing. Still not getting his big reveal would be disappointing. He was nothing if not dramatic.

Well, considering it all, at least all of them were easy to manipulate anyway, in different ways. 

Elias hummed, leaning back in his chair. He was rather bored with everything that was going on. Melanie King was now in on the ‘secret.’ They were a little terrible at hiding it, Elias thought with an amused grin. It was much less than it took for their assistants to notice. He found it endlessly hilarious how terrible they were at hiding their secrets, and honestly it was a testament to their All Knowing Patron that they were. Or maybe they were just terrible actors. Both were interesting in different scenarios. 

Oh that was something he could use. ‘You didn’t even notice how terrible it was for your friends until it was almost too late.’ That would shatter one of those two assistants if he truly wanted to, maybe even both! He wondered what would happen if he truly tried that. Probably a breakdown. Maybe even something useful! Though the most likely was them just crying, and that was… not what he needed at the moment. 

He would save it for blackmail.

Sasha was keeping a notebook now, full of polaroids and facts about certain supernatural things. It was less for them, and more for their friends if anything happened to them. How sweet.

It was sickening.

It was annoying to see the four of them going out like normal friends, Melanie even came along every once in a while. The video about their workplace was up and running, introducing Melanie’s archival coworkers, and a tour. Elias was wondering if he should let it stay up before deciding it was already out. Not anything incriminating at least.

He had watched it actually, both when she was filming it and when it was uploaded. He was rather happy about the sudden spouts of static that happened when he checked in. Melanie had left it in as well! The video was interested in history about the place, the folklore, her work day and who she worked with, and even a section about its founder, Jonah Magnus! Maybe he was a little smug.

Elias grinned though. He had learned something valuable while messing about one day. 

He could make sure they didn’t Know anything he didn’t want them to. He had a cork for that bottle. If they started getting too close, well. A headache should keep them from digging any farther. A thorn in their eyes if they tried to Know about his plans.


	23. Hit and Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternative Chater Title: Ahahahahah Sounds of Pipe Murder.
> 
> You thought you could escape the brutal pipe murder of the dust eating old man? Wrong :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence, Murder, Eli*s

Jon and Sasha had made a habit of staying much too late, they had rather done that more after the whole crew knew the secret. Martin and Tim had gotten onto them about it, but they really lost sense of time easily when so absorbed in learning and knowing new things. It was interesting and so hard to pull themselves away! There was so much that Sasha could put in her notebook, and so much that Jon could feel running through his veins like inky blood! They needed to know more than they needed to sleep.

They really looked the part, both of them having eyebags the size of the institute itself, and there was a large iced coffee they had shared, not caring much to go out and buy more. Sharing is caring, and it wasn’t like they didn’t share everything else. 

It was another one of those nights where they both cared less about train schedules and how they would hide their late night, when a shooting curiosity made them think about the tunnels. They looked at eachother, and unable to resist the need to learn more about something, they were already out of their seats. Hand in hand they made their way down to the trapdoor, dropping down one after the other. 

Sasha put up her hair, and Jon did the same, if their hai was the same texture it would have been an identical bun. 

“Glasses.” Sasha said. Jon fixed his glasses. 

There was still police tape down there, sectioning off parts of the tunnels, something that was only a pretense. Jon and Sasha bypassed it well enough, still walking hand in hand, not even trying to be quiet. No one was down there, and they sort of forgot that anyone could hear them talking this late at night. Being so absorbed in the other was easy when they were alone. Everything is so easy to share with each other when they could sit there with their hand intertwined, the silence not bothering them a single bit.

They go past where they have been before, taking in every turn and line. The walls were so different in every hall, and they kept that categorized in their brains. There was a feeling that something was off, as if they were cut off. They felt a good deal weaker than they did upstairs, and yet they continued on. 

Something shifted, and they saw food wrappers and trash on the ground. The tunnel walls seem to be caving and they both jumped backwards, almost tripping over their feet.

There was a man there. Old and hunched with a book in his hands. The Seven Lamps by Robert Smirke, a leitner they both think. He is doing something before turning to them and seeming a bit shocked.

“Gertrudes replacement?” He was looking at both of them as if they had done something strange. To be fair they were strange people, walking in the dark, glowing eyes illuminating the path, seeing in night vision. 

“Who are you?” Sasha asked, her voice not commanding a lulling static, just normal, as if her power was dull here. She did not notice, neither of them did.

The man stared, “You may know me as Jurgen Leitner.”

Then as soon as the words left his mouth, he was knocked to the ground, clutching his face. Jon stood before him, Sasha a few feet behind. Jon looked down at the man, his hand still balled into fists. He had just punched Jurgen Leitner right in the cheekbone with more strength than he had in his tiny body. The punched man in question stared at him, and Jon was breathing heavily before standing straight and smiling. 

It was a little cathartic, he had wanted to do that since he was eight.

Sasha watched and smiled, “Well. What do you want?”

The old man sat up, trying to keep away from the seemingly sudden aggression, “Do you know what Elias is planning to do?”

This peaked their interest, “Spill.”

\------

Jon and Sasha had no clue how to deal with what Jurgen was telling them. They left the office, despite the old man's warning and sat out of the front steps. Jon was taking a drag of a cigarette and Sasha was biting the skin off of her bottom lip. Both were anxious and just, unable to process the new feeling. Of course they Knew he was right when he spoke. He told them Elias was evil, which is obviously true. He had something interesting to tell them and yet their heads started to hurt whenever he tried to. The farther into his story he got the more irritated they felt.

\-----

“How much have you told them?” Elias was smiling, but his eyes spoke of something more malicious. There was something in his hands, hoisted over his shoulder. A large metal pipe, something that would most likely see some kind of action tonight. 

“Enough.” Leitner said. A chair scraped across the floor as he stood up. In his hands he still held The Seven Lamps of Architecture. 

“Notice anything different about them?” Elias grinned, he rather liked holding things over people, especially such a pain in his side. He had really wanted to know who was hiding down there, though he could never Look. 

Leitner sounded tired, “Yes. What did you do to them? They're not like Gertrude, in many ways.” He meant it too. They were not ruthless like Gertrude, the woman being stone cold when saving the world, and how there were two of them. Not what he had expected but he worked with it. 

“They did that themselves. Speaking of Gertrude, you didn’t tell them anything about her did you?” It was only common courtesy for Elias to ask. If he had told them about Gertrude he was sure that they would have marched up there and tried to hurt him themselves. 

“No. I didn't have enough time.” He sounded worried. 

Elias hummed, tapping a finger on his cheek bone as if in thought, “You know I've wondered for so long who was done there, helping her.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“I didn't. I just knew they were talking to someone. See. You forget that they do not take the same precaution as Gertrude did. I thought it was merely the ghost hunter again but now I see it's the Jurgen Leitner. What an honor.” Elias chuckled, looking at his nails as if this were just a casual conversation. 

Jurgen looks at Elias with big eyes, “Elias please.”

“How funny it is. They are much better than Gertrude, much more hungry, and I see that one of them gave you quite the mark there!” He points to the growing bruise on the other man's cheek. Jurgen gently touches it. “Who gave you that one?”

“The boy. Jon I think his name is.”

Elias hummed and laughed, “How fun. I never would have thought he had it in him. Always took Sasha as the one to incite violence. Well it doesn’t matter now does it?”

“What are you- What will happen when they get back!” Jurgen puts his hands up as if to defend himself.

Elias pretended to think, his smug voice again breaking any sort of hope that could have welled up inside someone, “They always needed to go out on their own. See the world, learn for themselves.”

“They might die.”

Elais looked at Jurgen with a smile, “It's a possibility I'm not inclined to entertain.” 

“Wait Elias please-”

\-------

Jon and Sasha walked back into their office to see the body of Jurgen Leitner on the floor. No one would believe them. There was a dead body on the floor, bludgeoned to death. They were trying to Know who it was but stabbing pain entered their temples. Instead they stared for a moment before the crash of oh shit fear no froze them. They ran out of the archives, not realizing Jon was the one touching everything. 

Jon and Sasha got the hell out of there with only one thought. “Elias.”


	24. Things Get Worse Before They Get Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapters working title was: Oghgghhg Ms. Barker had the braincell but JonSasha have No Common Sense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Throwing Up, Disordered Eating Mentions, Running From a Crime Scene, Gang Violence Mentions, General JonSasha related lack of common sense, Spooky Shit

They might not have thought this through. Jon and Sasha had no clue where to go, just their wallets, and bags full of statements and the clothes on their backs. So this was a stupid idea, but what could they do? Go back and call the police? They already have a murder suspection hanging on their head, another one means one of them is going to jail. 

The idea of being separated finally made Sasha dry heave into a trash can on the sidewalk. It was dark. They had nowhere to go! Sasha finished dry heaving, getting looks from some stragglers coming out of bars much too late. Jon glared at them to keep them away from Sasha, who was breathing heavily. They were both stressed but Sasha had a habit of throwing up when it got too nerve wracking. 

Jon had held her hair out of her face, cringing at the raw feeling in his throat. Patting her back softly, he waited for her to feel stable again. This was bad! Fuck! They knew who did it. Honestly the only person who would have the audacity to frame them for a crime is their shit boss, and they Know that! The headache that came from trying to Know what happened when they left was enough to deter them for the night. 

Shit. They left their phones at the office. They could talk to Martin or Tim or Melanie. What if they thought both of them did it? That would shatter them.

Jon and Sasha, hand in hand, walked for a long while, until they were tired. Neither of them had a clue of what would make this situation better. Sasha sighed, their heads were spinning.

Suddenly, Jon had an idea. Sasha looked at him and they both blinked. This was kind of their only chance. 

Georgie Barker was in the middle of editing her latest podcast episode when she heard a knock at her door. She got up confused, the knocking was brief, almost scared. If she had the ability to feel fear she might have been worried. She was wary though, as she peeked through the peephole, oh.

She opened the door to see Jon and a woman she did not recognise. Jon looked... Shit Jon looked like hell, both of them did. 

Jon was short and skinny, but now he looked as if he had not eaten in a while. He had bags under his eyes, and a single circular scar on his face. There was a scar on his throat in the shape of a slit, as if someone had attacked him. His hands were shakily clutching the woman’s.

The woman was tall, a bit taller than her actually. She looked a mess as well, hair falling out of her bun, curly strands sticking out at random. She had eye bags almost the same as Jon’s actually practically identical. She had circular scars on her exposed wrists, and there was a peak of a large claw shaped scar coming out of her shirt collar. 

“Jon what the hell?”

“Hi Georgie.” That was not Jon. Georgie looked up at the woman with a glare. Both of them looked sheepish at the look, as if just noticing she spoke for him. 

“Sorry. Hey Georgie.” Jon says, a shaky smile on his face.

Georgie looked at them both a few things popping into her head, “This isn't gang related right?”

Jon looked baffled, and he and Sasha responded almost offended, “”We aren't in a gang!””

This was enough for Georgie to drag them inside, less scared of getting gang violence, making them sit on the couch. They looked awkward just sitting there, but not awkward together. Their hands were still linked, and they sat close. She wondered what made Jon and his seeming girlfriend crash her one person editing party in the middle of the night looking like they had just been through a tornado and a famine. 

“Sorry I haven’t introduced myself.” Sasha said, she seemed to have just noticed, “How rude of me I’m Sasha James.”

Georgie shakes her hand and sits across from them in her chair, “Ok. Why are you here?”

Jon and Sasha look at eachother and Georgie swears she sees hints of green in their dark eyes. They made faces at each other and maybe she was lost.

“Uh. Our boss killed a guy in our office, framing us.” Sasha said finally. 

Georgie blinked a few times, “What?”

“Uh. We were talking to Jurgen Leitner, uh the book guy-”

“I know who that is.”

-”Oh good great. Well we were talking and then we left him in the office because we were kinda overwhelmed and you know. Then we come back and he's dead.” Sasha finished. They looked about ready to bolt, as if she was going to go hulk and kill them or something. They were a jumpy pair. 

“Ok.” She thinks for a second. That was a lot, this was a lot, “And you’re here why?”

They look sheepish. Georgie can tell what they're thinking and she sighs heavily. 

“Think about this. What if we call the police and explain the situation, before someone else finds the body and think you killed him? And do you have people who can come pick you up?

They both look down and she face palms, “I’ll get the phone.”

Jon stopped her biting his lip worriedly, “This is more of a-”

“Supernatural-” Sasha said.

“Situation.”

Georgie was back to her seat to hear what the hell Jon had gotten himself into. 

She was absolutely not surprised he would get himself into such a dumb situation. Literally if anyone could accidentally start becoming a monster that fed on secrets, she would have pinned Jon for it. It also explained the whole being super close to someone. She wouldn’t have pinned him for co dependent even if he had sort of a hyper fixated personality. 

“Ok. So your boss is also probably an evil monster, not in the capitalist way?”

Jon and Sasha nodded.

“I’m still going to call the police on him.”

They looked at her, and she got up to go use the phone. When she got back they both had left, and she sighed. At least she hadn’t told the police they were where either way, she was going to kill Jon though. She would make him explain everything else when she found him again. 

\-------

Jon and Sasha were staying in a motel as far away from London as they could get. Georgie had it, but she didn’t get it. She wasn’t them, they weren't her. 

Jon and Sasha sat on a shitty motel bed and cried curled together. Why did everything bad happen to them! What did they do to warrant such a horrible line of events to happen to them? 

The feeling of fabric and skin and closeness and the smell of old perfume was enough to let them both cry for a long while, finding solace in not being alone, something they did often. After crying like the dead were raising, they fell asleep.


	25. Descent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Title: Oh No. Monster Twins but make it OMINOUS.
> 
> I am literally in love with this au, and I really hope that others are too! If you see something done wrong or just something that dont seem right please comment! I'm all for pointing out my continuity errors <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Spooky, Mentions of Murder, Slight Paranoia, Eli*s mentions, General terrible decisions
> 
> Again. I said I was making this a fix it and yet? Its still hella close to canon <3

Jon and Sasha did not let themselves get caught dead doing anything. They recorded statements in the motel, waiting for someone to knock on the door, looking at the news to see if their faces are up there fro murder suspects on the run. And yet, they aren't there. Their faces aren’t splattered across the screen like wanted posters. So they dealt with it, going out at night, researching statements and doing everything they could. 

Of course. It was probably because they were from the Magnus Institute, Section 31 hated their workplace and they always kept everything under wraps, even two murders. It was probably Officer Tonner that would come after them, not even knocking on their door. They would move motels in a week. 

Jon hoped that it lasted this way until they could get back. Or until they see news about the real murderer being caught. 

So they stay in the motel, forgetting to eat until they almost pass out from human hunger, forgetting to sleep until they faint on the table or stumble to the bed like the dead, doing nothing but reaching out for More More More. 

Their eyes stay open, their hands linked. Their minds racing and taking in as if like a blackhole, they would consume everything that dared cross their path. They wanted to Know so much. And they would do anything to learn.

\-----

Martin and Tim are pissed to say the least. They know Jon and Sasha wouldn’t brutally murder a man, and they both knew the two were smart enough to clean up and hide a body if they even did murder someone. Of course there were plenty of other suspects, but they zeroed in on Elias Bouchard. It always seemed to be him, calm in the face of a murder, or finding a body. 

Tim was worried for them really. They just dipped and really it makes them look suspicious. There was DNA on that body, Jon’s DNA, but it was Jon’s office so obviously his DNA was all over the place, such as a body. Their phones were abandoned and they were just gone. Stupid Officer Tonner and her partner were looking at him and Martin like they were evil as well, and Tim and Martin may have put Jon and Sasha’s hand holding to shame with how much they were trying to keep together. 

Being stared at by people really was unpleasant. 

Officer Tonner seemed almost scared though, as if she was hesitant with this case. This was under the excitement at getting another chance to legally do away with some trauma creatures. 

Martin knew they hadn't done anything like that, just like Tim he knew. It was like a resounding thing in his stomach, knowing full well those two wouldn’t ever be able to murder. If they did he at least knew it wouldn't have been bludgeoned to death, he could see what they could do to someone, to a creature. This did not taste of their personality. Maybe Martin’s love of both of them was getting in the way of his common sense, but he really knew they did not do it.

Melanie was not the same, she had not known them for as long.

The police had told them that they were searching for Jonathan Sims, and that they think he killed Sasha James as well. Tim opened his mouth to dispute that because neither of them would be alive without the other, he felt a pinch on his hand. Martin had made sure he never said anything like that. Tonner was staring, waiting for them to slip up with something supernatural.

“I do not think Jon killed anyone.” Tim said to the police, and Martin said the same. Of course they had to elaborate. 

“And why is that? Do you think Sasha James killed him?” The officer asked, his voice gruff, he seemed interested in anything but the case. Section 31 hated working the Magnus Institute cases, but Section 31 hated almost every case. Dealing with spooky murders and monsters is a chore.

Martin shook his head, “No I just know them? This isn't something they would do. Jon or Sasha.” Then he clammed up, terrified of the police as much as the rest of them.

Tim hummed, “Yeah. Neither of them are much into blunt force trauma as a murder weapon.” 

He joked to Martin before that comment got his stupid ass stared at by more police and he was questioned heavily for another hour because of it. Most of it being him telling the police it had been a joke, no Jon and Sasha haven't murdered before, no he did not believe they were involved with the gertrude Robinson murder beyond finding the body, yes I know it's a bad joke to make on a crime scene but I'm obviously the paragon of itelligence working in a manky old archive aren't I?

Coming back to work the Monday after, without those two already there absorbed in work was weird. Maybe it was just the crush talking though, for both of them. They leave their office alone, the door taped off by tape, and there is no trace of a crime scene beyond the bright yellow. The blood and body cleaned up.

“So they killed a guy?” Melanie asks. She looks like she would rather not be there, pale. 

Tim and Martin shook their heads. Martin goes to the breakroom to make tea, not wanting to be looked at so deeply by an annoyed coworker. She had the right to be annoyed but she knew! Just like they did.

“No they didn’t. We know they wouldn’t.”

Melanie looks a bit frustrated, “Then who would kill a man in their office?”

Tim looks thoughtful. He and Martin had their suspicions and they had Elias down as the one who did it. It made sense. Jon and Sasha don’t trust the guy, he's creepy, and he's a raging capitalist so he's the biggest suspect. Well other than the two actual on the run suspects. 

He notices she's looking at him and he leans on his desk slightly, “Elias.”

Melanie looks confused. Then, understanding dons her face. He knew she would get it, she was a very smart cookie. There was something in her eyes as she went up the stairs. 

“What are you doing?”

“Requesting time off.” She said back. That answers nothing, and Tim wonders if she's about to try and face off with the old man murderer himself. He hopes she won't make such a rash decision, but he never would know with her. 

Martin returns with two mugs, as if he knew Melanie wouldn’t be staying down here long. He looks a bit calmer, hands wrapped around something warm and less shaky. They had dealt with way too much in the past few months, and at a shitty assistant salary, even if Jon and Sasha had given everyone a raise with some underhanded academia sneakery. 

Of course that took them back to Jon and Sasha. Martin hoped they were ok wherever they were. Tim had faith that they were a bit tougher together with their spooky eyeball twin powers, though he was not immune to worry.

The work day went on, and they did not see Melanie again.


	26. Forest Fires, Officer Offers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapters working title was: >:) 
> 
> That was literally it. Anyway! Have a good read <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Injury Descriptions, Loneliness, Descriptions of Loss of Control, Religion (Sort Of)

It had been a few weeks since they had seen their friends. Section 31 officers had started patrolling the front and back of the place, to Elias’s displeasure. Tim and Martin were cautiously leaving the building every day, making sure to leave when they wouldn’t have to see the newest prison guard that’s come to accost people randomly about the murder. 

Melanie had come back after her time off, saying she got attacked by a ghost with a scalpel. She had the bandages to prove it and it wasn’t like Tim nor Martin would ever say she was lying. Three weeks later she took another week off to go to India, she told them in passing, which they appreciated actually. She had grown on them like mold, and they liked to think she wanted them to know where she was.

Then it was just them two down there most of the time, working through files that piled up on the head archivist desk. The desk was never super neat, but now it's gotten terrible with stacks and stacks of unfinished files. They both wondered why Elias hadn’t hired anyone else, but then again they could never know what goes through that old bastards head. 

They worked and went home and came back and worked, then had weekends off. Jon and Sasha’s phones were taken as evidence, and they haven't heard a lick from them. 

Martin made tea and attempted to cook a recipe that Tim had pointed out from a cookbook they had snatched from Jon. They stayed home and watched TV and hoped that everything would turn out alright, because none of them had any control in the situation. This irritated Martin, and Tim started getting fiery in annoyance. 

Martin had been tired of not knowing anything that was going on, of being in control of anything.It seemed like the only thing he could control was his reactions.

Tim was angry. He knew absolutely nothing and irritation built up like melting plastic. Being out of the loop sucked, but now he knew and he still had no clue where to go or what was happening. 

\------

They had migrated a few bad motels, slowly slinking away from the source of their issues. They stopped for food before going back into their new normal, reading statements out loud and learning more. Then they saw a trend in names that had been common in the archives. So together they went out to the street. 

Meeting Jude Perry in the street one day while they're trying to get somewhere was plenty coincidence enough. She saw them, and they Knew her. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was something else.

Now they sit outside a cafe. It seems cafes are the place to meet monsters of fear. Jude offered her hand but neither Jon nor Sasha were too inclined to indulge her whatever sick fancy she had in passing for causing them harm. Instead Jon watched her, and their hands linked under the table. So close to someone like them gave their eyes a glow, as if waiting.

Jude watched them back, shaping a wax hair out of her face as it melted. 

“Is there something funny about us Ms. Perry?” Sasha asks, her voice calm. It sounds very much like her talking to someone from accounting, a normal thing.

Jude raises a brow, “Don’t compel me. And yes there is!” She chuckles.

“Care to tell us.” Sasha pointedly does not compel the woman. Jon squeezes her hand, he watches Jude, not blinking. Their gaze was piercing. 

“No.” She sounds smug, like she had won. Sasha felt a rush of annoyance, both her and Jon almost wanted to start a scene just to fuck the woman over in this small cafe. Maybe traumatize her. It would be pleasant for them, filling.

It should say something about them, being away from most human contact, together with only each other, that they had already almost forgotten worldly manners. 

“We just have a few questions. Did you burn down that section of Gwydir Forest last year?” Sasha asks.

Jude looks annoyed, though she doesn't seem to feel the same pain others feel from Sasha’s asking, “I told you- fine. Yes I did. It was a favor to Nikola Orsinov, and it's always a fun time, destroying something so beloved.”

“Yes, you seem to have a habit of burning.” Sasha’s voice was a bit echoey. 

Jude nodded, “I do. It’s nice to feel, the burn. The coals of fire inside you. It’s amazing. You wouldn't know would you what with your ‘watching.’” She spits out the word watching, looking Jon in the eyes, which only got her a stare back. Jon’s face was carefully blank, the only emotion being interest.

They took it in stride, Sasha is curious, “Our watching. Is that something like the Lightless Flame’s god?”

Jude laughs, “That's a joke right?”

“No. We’re new to this. Michael seemed to call me the Voice…” Sasha and Jon are still clutching hands. Jude watches them, something swimming in her waxy eyes, Sasha wanted to see what that emotion was, what her passing idea would mean for them. An overflowing of inquisitive thoughts in their head.

She scowls, “Your ‘god’ the Beholding, the Eye, the Ceaseless Watcher is nothing compared. It sits with its knowledge and its papers, ignorant as a fat court jester. I serve something far better, a tide, a stronger warrior of a god that destroys and burns.”

Jon and Sasha keep this slip of knowledge. The Eye, the Watcher. They are a part of that. Something human in them crawls at the idea of serving a god of knowledgeable fears, but they also are hungry for more. Instead of cutting the meeting to an end, to leave the eye, stop becoming whatever they have already run headfirst into, they had to know.

Could they back out now anyway?

“Yes, and that is the Lightless Flame?”

“The Desolation, the Blackened Earth. The delicious burn of destroying people and lives. Once it triumphs we will leave the Eye shriveled and burned and a husk.” She says this with such victory in her tone that they were impressed. How strong of faith. They both almost wish they had that kind of faith for anyone but each other.

Sasha contemplates for a second before sighing, “Ok I think I can understand. One wants to watch and the other wants to destroy..”

“You have no clue!” Jude laughs, malicious mirth flowing through her false body.

Jon snarled, “We don’t. Tell us or let us be.” 

“Aww he talks.” Jude looks at them both, “Now you're sounding like an acolyte of the Eye.”

“That tells us nothing we don’t know.” Sasha points out, “You want to kill us.”

Jude looks thoughtful, “Yes. But I’m not going to.”

“Is it the will of your god?” Sasha asks, leaning forward slightly. 

Jude snorts and rolls her eyes, posing as nonchalant, “No. A favor.”

They are both taken aback, it seems unlikely for her to do them any kindness, “Thank you?”

Irritation and amusement scrawled across her slightly melting face, “Not to you. Your slimy little master Elias. Word is he killed Gertrude, feel like I owe the guy. I wanted her gone.”

Sasha nods, ah that makes more sense, “We knew that too. He did kill her.” 

Jude nods, they want to ask so many more questions. Why did she say Elias was their master. That idea made their palms itch.

“Why did you- Hey!” Sasha leans back before a hand that radiated hellish heat got close.

“No more questions.” She growled, sitting back as if nothing was wrong.

Jon squeezes her hand and she feels safe with her other half, “Fine keep your secrets.” 

This makes for a pause in the conversation, as both of them think of the best way to get out of there should she get more aggressive. Jude was thinking as well, they watched her from the corner of their eyes. The oppressive heat she carried with her like a blanket was making them sweat in their coats.

“I do want to tell you two a story, a story that comes with some advice.” 

Sasha and Jon are a bit irritated, this woman was pedantic, “Unless its about the forest fire or Gertrude or Agnes-”

“Don’t talk about her!” She roared, the coffee near her was boiling. They did not touch their iced drinks. They are quiet waiting for her to answer for herself. 

“Not going to do your thing?” She looks at them and laughs, “Well you aren't really Archivists are you, suppose it doesn’t matter.”

“What are we?” Sasha asks. They wanted to know. Michael was literally no help.

Jude made a face and Sasha flinches, whoops questions. 

“I’ll tell you. After my statement.” They sincerely doubted that and she began her tale.

After the statement Sasha and Jon felt Full, like something had been given to them just from hearing it. It wasn’t the same as hearing fear, this was something more twisted and wrong, a sick sort of love, but it made them feel warm, like they just ate a home cooked stew that was a bit too hot. 

It was so nice, but it was terrifying. They hadn’t eaten an actual human meal and now they felt more aware of that, when this unnatural hunger was quenched even for moments.

“Thank you for the statement. And dead end.” Sasha said. Jude seemed to see how content they felt after the story, and she looked both amused and disgusted.

“Well. If you want to talk to people who can kill you, I know a guy.” She says offhandedly, practically dangling a steak in front of hellhounds.

Both of their eyes snap up to look at her, “Yes?”

“We aren't friends, or on great terms but I know where he exists. Calls himself Mike.” She holds her coffee cup, swirling the liquid around and taking a drink of it/

“Long hands Michael?” Sasha asks, they wouldn’t go to where that spiralling ‘friend’ of theirs lived, he seemed to reside in the hallways.

Jude shook her head, “No no. Uh. Big lightning scar, smell like..” She gestures with her hand as if trying to remember.

“Ozone?” Jon pitches in quietly.

“Yeah that's it.”

“Michael Crew then. Where is he?” Sasha asks. They were now excited, both of them barely containing their curiosity.

Jude grins and waves her pointer finger, “Not for free.” She licks her teeth.

Something weighs in their stomach, “Ok. What do you want?”

“Shake my hand.” Jude says. It sounds like the easiest thing in the world. 

This is a bad idea, their mind screams, but instead of caring they are thinking who would do it. Jon wanted to shake her hand, just to see what would happen and Sasha was a bit worried for him. Hell he was worried for himself. 

“That's... it?” Sasha asks carefully.

“Yes. You hurt my feelings earlier. It's rude not to shake a girls hand.” She holds her hand out, waiting for one of them to make a move. 

Jon goes to shake her hand and she takes it back, quick as a whip with a grin, “Sorry but let the Voice do it.” 

Sasha puts out her hand, and Jude uses her opposite, “It won't hurt.”

There is an intense pain in their hand. Sizzling starts and they can feel the horrific burns happening as the other smiled, wax hands melting and reforming. 

“I lied.”

Sasha snatches her hand back with a scream and Jon turns to look at Jude, his eyes alight in anger. He was in pain but he cared very little, since Sasha had just gotten injured severely. He wished he could have taken it for her, just to make it easier for her. He glared at her and Jude started to look worried.

“What are you doing?”

Jon glared, letting all his anger flow out through his eyes and Jude looked at her hand shaking, it was like millions of eyes were watching her oh god make them stop no! She whimpered.

There is an eye branded forever on her hand, reminding her that she overstepped, but they have Michael Crew’s address, so they leave to make sure Sasha gets cleaned up. Jude was staring at her hand in horror as they made their escape.


	27. Meetings That Go Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapters working title was: I keep Mike Alive because I love he.
> 
> Also!! I am going to be at my grandparents for a day or so, so I am sorry if I dont reply to comments fast enough or anything!! I might not upload tomorrow, but that depends on how late I stay! Love yall <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Vertigo, Injury Recovering, Eli*s, General JonSasha Spookys

Sasha’s hand was cleaned carefully by Jon, his hands not even shaking as he cleaned and disinfected the wound with the things in their recently bought first aid kit. He carefully wrapped a bandage around it, going to take some ice from the trashy ice box to wrap in a hand towel and let her use to sooth the pain. Sasha sighed in slight relief, and Jon went through their small bag to find a bottle of painkillers and took out two for her.

They sat there, both in pain and waiting for the medicine to kick in. They shared plans, and their heads leaned against the others. It was quiet in the room. Quiet enough to hear the slight bustle outside, the neighbors to all sides walking and breathing. Thin walls. They heard cups rattling and tea being made. It was so silent.

They went over what happened over and over like a broken tape. Jude Perry burned us, they gave her something to remember right back. How had they done that? That's what they pondered, falling asleep leaned together.

It was a week before they went to go talk to Michael Crew, because they didn’t want to be in pain while talking to an acolyte of fear. He seemed to be working for something that dealt with the sky, from the many many statements they took about him. Sasha hummed, their hands linked. Her hand was wrapped still, but religiously washed and looked after. 

Michael Crew’s place was nice enough, if a bit small, large windows. They didn't really care for design, and they only paid attention to the building as a place that had something else that might interest them. The man inside must not have known about their coming, because when he answered the door with only a crack, he looked shocked before his face went back to normal.

“What do you want?” he asked. His tone was polite though, easy and calm. 

Sasha smiled, as if this were any other trip, “Jude sent us? We just wanted to ask a few questions?”

Michael looked at them and huffed a laugh, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

As they walked in Sasha nodded politely, “Yes. Thank you.” Jon just looked around. There were books all over the place. He had some posters about bands, and some educational posters about Lighting and the sky. His place smelled like ozone and clean sky, something pleasant. Tea was also a prominent smell, something that was earthy. 

Michael gestured for a table, and they sat. There were four chairs, one was in the living room holding an open book about skydiving.

They both like it there, it's almost homey. That didn't take away from the fact that Michael had information, he knew something they didn’t and well, they wanted his story so terribly badly. He walked back to them with three cups, carefully sitting them down. Something human in them is reminded of Martin, and maybe that ache stays with them for a second. They do miss their friends but they would be putting them in danger now.

Sasha nods, “Thank you. We’re Sasha and Jon.”

“Yes uh. The Voice and Gaze I think is what Elias called you.” Michael says calmly, drinking a sip of his tea.

Jon blinks, “So that's it. What has Elias said?”

Michael shrugs, “He talks to Simon sometimes. Talking about Titles and such. He doesn’t say much else other than to be a nusciene.”

“”We can believe that.”” They said together. They sat in the quiet for a second, commiserating their hate for old men.

“So you’re Michael Crew right?” Sasha asks, Jon’s taking a sip of his tea, watching. Her wrapped hand was on the tabe and her other hand was held in Jon’s. Their eyes are alight.

Michael hums, his hands holding his tea, he had a spoon next to the mug, “Mike please.”

Sasha and Jon nod, Sasha carefully looks at her drink, “Yes we already know a Michael.”

There was a pause, “We’re from the Magnus Institute.”

“I knew that.” Mike said leaving no room for any more random questions, stirring his tea with a spoon, its clicking seems so loud in the room, the quiet of metal and ceramic seeming so large and yet so small. 

Sasha tries again, “We’ve read about you. What is it that you serve?”

“The Vast, the Great Big Sky.” He looks annoyed at her, “No more of that.”

“”Can I ask about the scar- woAH Sorry!”” they say, hair flying up for a second, a warning.

“I’m trying to be polite.” He leaves them to feel vertigo and terminal velocity falling for a second and then he stops. It was enough to scare both of them out of their wits.

After catching their breath for a moment they look at him, “”Yes we apologize. Touchy subject we suppose.””

Sasha clears her throat, Jon lets her take over, just studying the man there. It must feel like being pinned to a table under a microscope, unsettling staring. Mike did not act like he noticed, until he raised a brow.

“Staring is rude.”

“It’s sort of something we can’t turn off.” Sasha explains. Jon hums. They seem so different in the past month and a half of being alone, only talking to themselves or small talking with cashiers, or monsters. 

Mike hums, still sending an annoyed look at them, “You want my statement.”

“Yes we do. If you'd like to tell us.” She adds to the end. Mike sighs, but he goes on. They drink it all in.

“Oh that was surprisingly nice. I’m not one for speeches usually.” Mike says. His statement tasted different from Jude’s. His was airy, like a pastry. Something interesting and tart that tasted like tea and maybe clouds. 

“Thank you for this Mike.” Sasha said. “This helps us.”

“Yes well, get out now. You’ve left with your life and some new information. I’m having mercy.” Mike said. Jon and Sasha felta string of annoyance at his arrogance, but tempted it down. Sasha was good at keeping their annoyance from shaking them.

They nod and leave, feeling so content and yet so ready to turn back and tear more secrets from him. Still they remembered the vertigo and decided not to try it. 

Jon and Sasha walk back to their motel, sitting down and sighed heavily.

\-------

It's with confusion that everyone is brought into the archives with a grinning Elias. Something seems wrong with the situation. There are more people down there glaring at the smug bastard.

“Give a warm welcome to our newest archival staff.” He is grinning much too wide.


	28. Fetch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapters working title: Hnnnn Daisy 
> 
> I'm back from working! Also if you saw that update from two days ago (I deleted. Didn't want clutter) guess what! 
> 
> THEY WERENT CATERPILLARS THEY WERE MILLIPEDES.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Eli*s, Brutality, Mace and Fists as a weapon, Trauma Mentions, Aggression towards coworkers

Basira Hussain and Daisy Tonner were hired to the Magnus Institute, not to their complete free will, but they were there. Basira did it for curiosity, and Daisy wasn’t going to leave her partner, loyal to the end she was. Do here they are, working for a monster, under another set of monsters, around people who know they are dangerous. Tim and Martin gave them dirty glances, and Melanie gave them sympathetic ones. 

Melanie and now Tim and Martin knew they couldn’t quit. Melanie was also pissed and ready to attack anyone, her rage starting to bubble like a boiling pot. Going to India was both a mistake and a learning experience, getting shot by a ghost was an experience. 

“Welcome Ms. Hussain and Ms. Tonner. I’m sure you’ve all met before.” Elias said, smiling as if everything were wonderful. As if he hadn't just brought in the women who had interrogated and terrozed them. His arms were crossed and he looked like he was steeling himself for a show, as if he knew there was aggression. 

Tim scoffed, “Yeah we have.” He didn’t say that she broke into his shared apartment, that she had trashed his living room like a wild animal, that he and Martin got to see her live through trauma, and get absolutely ruined by a duo of sleep deprived creatures. How she threatened them and everyone in this archive. Elias probably already knew.

Daisy watched them, and Basira looked cold as she always did. They were working here now, so they were probably not police officers anymore… This situation felt very wrong, when the leading officers on a murder case now worked for the place the murder took place? Martin didn’t like it. 

Elias tutted, as if Tim had been an unruly child that spilled his tea, “Introduce yourselves formally, you’ll be coworkers for the foreseeable future.”

Martin barely stifled his disbelieving noise, “Martin Blackwood. But you would know that.”

Basira looked at them and at Elias, her face just vaguely painted with displeasure, “Yes we know who everyone is, Melanie King former youtuber, Martin Blackwood, and Tim Stoker. We have interrogated all of you before.”

Elias then sighed like Basira was an inconvenience, like he was unimpressed with her little speech, “Well good to know. Play nice.” 

He smiled and then went to leave, before stopping and turning to Daisy, “Ms. Tonner I have a job for you later, see you at my office at five?”

Daisy let out a low growl but angrily agreed, and with that Bouchard was gone. 

Martin left the room to go make tea for Melanie and Tim.

Basira looked at them, “So what exactly do you guys do here?”

“Filing. Research.” Tim said, “I’d show you around but you know.” 

Daisy shot him a glare and he leveled her one as well, “You did fuck up my flat and try to kill my friends.”

Instead of answering him Daisy walked away annoyed. Tim rolled his eyes, taking a mug from Martin, feeling the warmth. Doing work was easy at this point, even without a boss over them. It was calming to just type away, he and Martin and Melanie could even get lunch most of the time, when she wasn’t off with her secret date. 

Daisy entered Elias’s office, Basira waited just around the end of the hallway to help her recoup if anything went awry. He was sitting down, his eyes flicking through lines of papers. Most of them looked like spreadsheets and budgets, things that a normal boss would be looking at. Daisy didn’t care, nor was she in a polite mood.

“What do you want?”

“Easy there… Puppy.” He cracks a grin, and Daisy remembers that night briefly before slamming her hands on his desk. “Alright, apologies. I need you to... play fetch. Find Jonathan Sims and Sasha James and bring them back.”

Daisy raises a brow, not rising to the bait again, “Their case was closed.”

“Exactly. They still have work here, and well they’ve seen enough of the world so far.” He gestures around, “We can’t have an archive without Archivists. Or, whatever they are now.”

“Who said I would find them?” Daisy remembers explicitly how terrible it had been dealing with those two, she would have a better plan this time if she even agreed. 

Elias hummed, “Just knock them out and bring them here? You can find them, I have full faith in your… Abilities.”

This made Daisy’s eye twitch in annoyance but instead of lashing out she cracks her knuckles and sighs, “Sure. I'll bring you your pet monsters.”

Elias smiled, his pleased face made her want to deck him so badly, “Good thank you. When should we expect you three back?”

“Give me three days.” She grins feral, “I’ll bring them alive.”

\-------

Jon and Sasha have everything packed for themselves, all their things they had brought still there and fresh takeout still on their breath. Sasha’s hand has healed well enough that it wasn’t the worst pain in her life. It was almost scarred over, even if it was a nasty burn. Jon fixed a strand of Sasha’s hair, smiling.

The Voice and Gaze. That's what they were. Sasha touched her throat, and Jon’s hand ghosted over his eyes. They finally knew the whole title at least. 

She smiled back. They were ready to take on the next motel, leaving this one clean as they had come. It was rather easy when they didn’t use much of the facilities, they were usually at the tables reading or recording. 

Travelling together was actually nice. It was peaceful, when not tempting fate by talking to monsters. Something about knowing each other so much made it easy. Being able to hug and hand hold and curl together was healing in a way. Neither of them had ever had much kind touch, and Jon even less so. 

So they were ready.

Well. Until they open the door and are both immediately assaulted with something unpleasant. Sasha gets a punch straight to the jaw, knocking her out effectively. Then before Jon can understand a thing he gets maced in the eyes and a hit to his head. They're both down for the count.

Daisy looks at her ‘bounty’ with a sigh. She had known what she needed to do, but the hunt did not feel satisfying. Though maybe that's for the best, if she killed them, she wasn’t sure if Elias would let her live after such a treacherous action. They weren’t heavy. They smelled like coffee and takeout and ink, and they looked so small. So weak. These were the creatures that had brought her to her knees for mercy only months ago.

They're light too. Almost worryingly so, something about it was disturbing. She picks them both up easily, taing their bag only so there is no evidence of them existing in this space. Jon is short and is so easy to carry. Sasha was tall though, and her ear hit Daisys hip when she walked. It was a weird configuration she had them in. holding them over each shoulder. 

She hummed, taking them to her beat up car. She sat them in the back, not really caring about safety belts. They're monsters, they'll live.

And with that she made her way back to the stupid insititute. They were not that hard to find actually, though she went through so many places they had been. They left their scent everywhere they went, but they made some good distance. 

She turned some music on lightly, low enough she would hear if the two moved or woke up, and low enough they wouldn't wake up to the music. She had a good bit of driving ahead of her.


	29. Eventful Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Title: The Boys are back, and so is that bitch Elias
> 
> This chapter probably seems rushed but I honestly had no clue how to pace this one. Be gentle with me I''m a bit stupid XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Injury, Eli*s, general Spooks, Canon Typical Melanie Attempting to Maim

Martin about jumped out of his skin when the archives door slammed open, he ran out of the break room. Honestly why does everything happen when he's trying to make something calming? When he takes a break? Tim seemed to have the same reaction, standing up as if he had just leaped out of his seat in shock. 

The door was held open by a foot, and it revealed one Daisy Tonner with two very familiar people hefted over her shoulders. They're practically glued to the spot in confusion and slight worry for their friends. Daisy heads down the stairs, and then lays both of them on the floor, not very gently, but enough they wouldn't have a concussion. 

God they looked terrible. Sasha had a growing bruise on her jaw, pairing well with the darkness under her eyes. Jon had some kind of residue on his face, eyelashes covered in powdery stuff. Martin recognized it as mace.

“What the hell did you do to them?” Tim practically snarled, and soon Martin was running to grab a cloth to clean their faces, and other injuries they might not be privy to. 

Daisy looked uncaring, “Did my job. You think they'd go with me if I just asked politely?”

“You don’t need to brutalize them!” His hands were clenched into fists, before brushing hair out of the two out cold people. Martin came back and started with cleaning away dirt on their faces, and the mace residue from Jon’s eyes.

The woman merely shrugged and left. She had shown Bouchard before coming down there, he had simply sighed and gave her a strained thank you. Shouldn’t have asked her to get them alive, should have asked for unharmed. Basira would need her for something and off she went. Staying down here gave her the heebie jeebies. 

Jon-and-Sasha woke up terrified. Where were they? Their heads hurt. Everything was hurting. Ow shit their eyes hurt so much, what in the world it burned! As they woke up they heard a familiar voice, shushing their slight noises of pain. They curled together, holding hands and trying to get out of unfamiliar hands. No no no. 

“Hey! Hey! It’s us calm down. It's Martin and Tim.” There are hands on their faces they can barely breathe, where were they, why are Martin and Tim here. What was on their faces-!

“You’re at the institute! You’re safe. Please calm down, it’ll be alright.” Martin’s voice tells them. Jon-and-Sasha are shaking, they can’t see! The hands on their face are soft. They calm down for a second, blinking rapidly. Their vision was blurry from mace, even if someone had carefully cleaned all the nastiness off of Jon with a cloth.

Martin and Tim were sitting next to them, carefully touching their faces. Oh. Jon looked up, and Sasha let out a huff. They had forgotten they were separate for a second, but now they were mostly lucid and felt like two instead of one. Sasha winced, and Jon made a face, blinking again a few times. 

“”Ugh.”” They groaned, rubbing their heads with opposite hands. “”Martin! Tim””

They had launched into a hug, forgetting everything for a second, feeling a human need for friends. They hugged their friends so close, having missed them subconsciously. They didn’t want to think about their friends while they were on the run, for fear of Knowing that they would not be welcome back if this all blew over. If. Is this all blown over?

Martin smiled despite himself. God he missed them too. Tim’s face slowly turned into a grin, their four person hug on the floor was enough for them all to forget about the situation for a moment. Then Sasha hissed in pain and looked at her hand, damned thing still hurt when she put too much pressure on it. 

Oh. 

“So. If you'd like, no pressure, care to explain everything?” Martin asks, he looks both steely and soft. It was something they had missed, his mothering. Jon even more so. After a brief and silent conversation they launched into their tale. 

\------

Of course. Jon and Sasha were just a tad different from before their solo on the run mission. Relearning how to interact with anyone but themselves and monsters of terror was a process, one that did not come easy. 

They had struggled with not just staring at Tim and Martin to talk, and they struggled with then talking, articulating. They had clearly been trying though, even if the first week of them getting back was them mostly in their office trying to piece things together. Martin had to coax them out with food, it was like taming feral cats. 

Of course. Tim and Martin are sort of used to the weirdness, but man, was it so unsettling to see them bouncing around each other with ease, even closer than before. You would have thought that impossible. They also were very wary of hand touching anyone but each other, but they could see the large burn on Sasha’s, so they chalked it up to that. 

Melanie has trouble with them, of course, she gets irritated so easily. Jon and Sasha try to be courteous of her, and she appreciated it. They had a tenuous friendship now, but that was better than nothing. 

That was well enough, having lunch with the five of them and having a slightly bantering relationship. It was nice. Then there were the other two in the archives who very much hated everyone there and especially their ‘bosses.’ Though Basira and Daisy usually went out doing something for Elias. 

There is a day though, when all seven of them are there. The archive door opens. Attention turns from papers and work to the door, watching as if they were waiting for death. It always seemed the door opened right when it was least wanted, heralding new bad news. Like an omen, the door to the archive opening and closing loudly. 

There were seven sets of eyes on Elias Bouchard as he walked down the steps. He was such a bastard. His smug face must have set off a bomb in the room because Melanie launched a ceramic mug at his head. It only barely missed, hitting the wall with a loud shattering noise. He made a face at the shattered pieces of the dining ware, turning his seeming disappointment to the seven of them. 

Jon and Sasha had silently encouraged her. Tim was visibly enjoying her sudden flash of rage and shattering of a cup. Though they knew they would have to clean it up later. 

Sasha tried to look polite with a smile, but it looked like a snarl, “What do you want?” her voice was full of a lulling static. It wouldn’t work.

Elias sighed, and then his face looked like he was sampling fine wine, “Oh Gertrude never tried to compel me. How strange. Feels quite nice. But I came down here for an announcement.”

“If it's more archival assistants I’m ringing your neck.” Jon said under his voice. Melanie looked at him almost as if that was an admirable way to react. She went back to glaring at Elias, as did the rest of them. 

Sasha squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. 

Elias acted as if he didn’t hear, “Speaking of. Let's have a long needed chat. You can’t kill me, I know plenty of you want to. But I am…” He searches for words before finding the ones he liked most even though they knew he probably had this memorized, “the beating heart of the institute. If I die, all of you die. If I go, everyone one of you will too. That should stifle the next few murder attempts.”

“What.” Was the unanimous question, all in various stages of anger. 

“I also came to tell you about the Unknowing…”

After hearing this Tim had practically shut down. His anger bubbled over, and he was ready to avenge his brother. Jon and Sasha were ready to learn everything about this, and to stop the end of the world…

Martin worried.


	30. Elias Interlude +

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: Elias Interlude but make it Spicy.
> 
> I am once again saying I will probably not uplaod tomorrow! I'll be camping but i might be able to?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: Eli*a, Mentions of injury, Canon Typical Mental Abuse of Archival Staff

Elias had a rather great time lately. Having his own personal ‘vigilantes’ was quite fun actually. It was honestly easy. It was all too easy, these people thought less of themselves and more of others, and some only thought about danger. He was proud of how those two were practically marking themselves. 

The Mike Crew situation wasn’t enough to mark them, which irritated him. He had underestimated their ‘people’ skills. Which he should have taken account for, Sasha James was better with people than Jon was. So of course she should have re calibrated the idea that Jon would get himself into trouble by being rude. Still, it held little to no importance.

He still had Simon’s number. Simon would have a field day throwing those two, or just one of them off of a roof. Or maybe taking them skydiving. 

Elias chuckled to himself. 

That's five down, six if you count the Eye being a mark and not their newest lifestyle. The Stranger, The Desolation, The Corruption, The Hunt, The Web, The Eye. The Not-Them, Jude Perry, Jane Prentiss, Alice Daisy Tonner, Mr. Spider, Himself, or themself. They got themselves into the mess mostly. He only watched and made sure a few things happened on schedule. 

He found the anticlimactic catching of his ‘Archivists’ to be a bit disappointing. They were so powerful even if they hadn’t Become yet. He wondered why that was, but chalked it up to the double trouble amount. The fact that they had been taken down in such a quick manner was boring and hilarious to him. He took his eyes away from Alive Tonner and her bounty in some sort of kindness to her.

She would be able to feel the eyes, and he'd rather not have her brutalize the Voice and Gaze any farther because of him. Even if it might be entertaining. 

Telling the Archives that he was the heart was a good time. Melanie's anger issues aside. Speaking of Melanie.

\------

Dragging her trauma out of her was truly too easy. She had tried to kill him again, probably the third time that week even after learning the death pyramid status. He would give it to her, she was ambitious about it. After so many he was always cautious around whatever she did. She wasn’t sneaky though. 

It was Tim’s attempt that surprised him. He had come into his office with a carefree smile that Elias knew had been faked for months. It was almost a game to see how much harm these archival assistants can take. 

“Hey Double Boss. Are there any files on the Unknowing up here? Or are you too much of a bastard to let us have them?” His voice was jovial with a hint of the seething rage that bubbled underneath the surface. 

He waited for a second before answering, “No I don’t have any, they must be in that mess of an archive.”

Tim let out a breath from his nose. He sounded so annoyed. He didn't move for a second. 

“What do you need now.” Elias was less amused and more annoyed now. Tim wasn’t doing anything. He reached into Tim’s head and saw the knife before it almost stabbed him in the throat.

Unlike Melanie’s first few, he followed Elias.

“You are such a fucking bastard. You hurt everything around you and act all holier than thou! Fuck you!” His teeth grit. “You get Jon and Sasha into this mess, you hurt Melanie, you trap us here with those damn cops!”

He lunges again. Elias had never expected the aggression from Tim, he was never one to injure unless to get revenge.

“What are you trying to make up for Tim?” Elias says, digging painfully into Tim’s head, making said man grit his teeth and shake his head as if that would help.

“Your brother? The one you couldn’t save? Oh, you’re already working on that with the Voice and Gaze. Hm Well. I have something else lined up for you, thankfully for both of us. We’re both busy.” 

“Shut the hell up.” Tim almost nicks him this time. 

“Are you trying to do something for your friends? The ones you can't help? The ones you pushed away at the sign of them not loving you without thinking of their mental state? Is it that you didn’t notice their slow descent? Is it the pathetic crush? It it the idea that you won't ever be in the right with them?” Elias says this all slowly and deliberately. Tim clutches at his head, tears starting to form.

“You think lashing out will help them? They can help themselves. They. Don’t. Need. You.”

Tim is crying now, there is static. The knife hits the floor and Elias casually takes it and puts it in his desk drawer. He falls to his knees as Elias watches. The fear of inability to help sparked anger and a deep seated insecurity. It was delicious to feel.

“Get out now Stoker.”

Tim stands shakily and leaves. 

Elias settles back into work. Oh is that Ms. Barker about to enter the archives?


	31. Feel Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Title: Asdkfjsdh I love them. 
> 
> This is all comfort, no hurt XD I needed fluff. Apologize for uploading late I've been depressed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Eli*s, Crying, Awkwardness

Tim had come down the stairs with tears in his eyes and looking like a mess. He threw his coat into his seat, not noticing anyone else. He was going through quite a bit in that moment, coming down from Elias’s office. Melanie was next to him, and was patting his back. She was seething about Elias doing whatever the fuck he had done to her to Tim. She was weirdly attached to all of these weirdos, even if they pissed her off sometimes. 

Martin notices and automatically rushes over with a mug of tea. He stands next to Tim, pulling him into a hug. Tim allows the hug to happen, still sobbing. How he had gotten down there was anyone's guess. They were both sad tears and tears of anger. Martin was softly shushing him, petting his hair as Melanie was rubbing his back. 

There was a third set of hands. Jon and Sasha were there too and they watched carefully. Tim felt Sasha’s scarred palm carefully caress his face. Martin moved to make room for the other two who wanted to comfort their crying friend. Getting a hug from both of them at once. He shuddered silently, letting himself calm down. 

“What happened?” Martin asks. Tim still had his face cradled by a humming Sasha. 

Tim motioned for everyone to back off for a second, and they all moved by a foot, giving him the space he had asked for.

Melanie answered for him, “You know what the bastard did to me after my fifth murder attempt?”

The other three nodded. Jon and Sasha looked furious, like they themselves were going to go kill the old man. Martin shook his head at them. Melanie looked at them.

“How about tonight we all get together and make a plan on how to wreck his shit?” She suggests, “Alcohol and movies make everything better.”

Jon hums, “I’ll make food.”

Martin nods, “I have a few good movies, I can bring Ponyo.”

Tim looks at his friends, letting out a breath of awe. They cared about him, they wanted him to feel better. He felt a bit warm.

“Hell yeah. Bring Ponyo Martin.” Tim says, and the five of them smile and plot before Jon and Sasha damen the mood by going back to work. Eyeroll.

\-----

Georgie Barker had a lot of time to think about Jon and Sasha after they came to her house and then dashed. She also got to find out from Melanie that they were her bosses. At least Jon was, Melanie just said that they were weirdly close. Georgie had exclaimed that they had been supernaturally bound and Melanie had hummed and stated offhandedly that she was glad Georgie knew. 

Of course she had heard when they had come back to work. Hunted down by Daisy Tonner. She had plenty of things to do other than to think about her now spooky ex and his monster twin, her life doesn't revolve around them. There was What the Ghost and her girlfriend Melanie. Still that didn’t stop her from knowing when they got back to work after a few weeks. Melanie had informed her. 

Georgie was pissed. Rightfully so! Who just goes up to their ex and unloads an issue like this before dropping off of the face of the earth? Really if anyone would it would be Jon, he was finicky like that. 

Still she felt eyes on the back of her neck as she walked into the lobby of the Magnus Institute, feeling completely ready to tear Jon a new one. If he didn’t apologize she could make a scene, and if he did well… Sadly she missed him. Even if she wanted nothing to do with this god awful place. 

The secretary, her name was Rosie she thinks, led her down to the archives with little asking. Random people usually went down there anyways, to give statements, so it wasn’t anything new for her. Georgie opened the door and walked down the stairs. There was Melanie sitting in her chair. She notices Georgie first as well. 

One tall man turned to her as she walked down and the archive door closed with an ominously loud noise. He had dark hair and was wearing a hawaiian shirt, he looked like he had been crying recently. Ah that must be Tim. Another man turned and his round glasses slipped down his nose. Martin she thinks. 

“Where is Jon?” She asked out loud. 

Tim gave a glare, “Why?”

“Lay off Stoker, she's not evil like Elias or whatever.” Melanie snarked, seeming angrier than she should be, before Tim shoulders her and she shoulders back in good fun. 

“Oh. Wait. Melanie is this Georgie?” Martin asks, smiling at her. Melanie nods with a small grin, then she points to a door. The Head Archivist office, it read on the little name plaque. 

Georgie takes all of her anger from that night to the front and opens the door and closes it behind her. Jon and Sasha don’t even notice her. The two of them are holding hands as if not touching would kill them, they're doing work. Sasha’s buried into a file, her free hand writing in a pocket notebook. Jon is looking at a spread of papers, eyes twitching from one paper to another faster than light. She's seen him read before of course, but. 

Georgie clears her throat, startling the two so badly they jump. Sasha squeaked and both sets of eyes were on her, boring into her. She wasn’t scared though, unable to even feel that anymore. 

“What the fuck!?” She says instead, looking at both of them, “You tell me about your supernatural shit and then dip!” 

Jon winced and Sasha looked apologetic, “Yeah… We’re sorry.”

“I want an explanation as to what the hell you two were thinking.” Georgie says, sitting down across from them, waiting. 

It was jarring to hear Sasha talk so much like Jon did. To hear someone else's words, or maybe two peoples, coming from a different mouth. 

“We panicked?” Sasha said, they both look sheepish and she's reminded of college, when Jon accidentally dropped a bottle and felt terrible. She could have laughed. 

Georgie huffed in amusement, it was hard to stay mad at anyone other than those stupid advertizers on her show, “I could tell idiot.”

Jon and Sasha nod, both free hands coming up to scratch the backs of their necks in a mirrored way, “Yeah. We kinda told you because Jon trusts you. Then you said police and we got a little scared? I mean, sectioned officers have tried to kill us before, so it was justified? Not really for you but… Yeah.”

Sasha was doing the talking. 

Georgie nods, “Ok and where have you two been?”

“Moving motel to motel, getting into trouble with other supernatural things.” Sasha waved her hand. Jon was still watching. She was reminded of the Admiral when he saw something interesting, like a grasshopper or spider that wiggled around, it made her chuckle. 

Sasha’s head cocks, and Jon’s does as well, and she laughs again. 

“Why are you…?” 

“It’s just… Jon looks like the Admiral and the head tilt-” She snorts and has herself a good time. Jon is kind of taken out of his watching state, and he smiles softly, hiding his mouth with his hand. Sasha seems confused before giggling herself, all three of them chuckling.

“How is the Admiral by the way?” Jon asks, his own voice gravelly from disuse. 

Georgie smiles and takes out her phone, “He’s great! A ferocious spider killer.”

“”Good!”” They both said, and saw the picture of the Admiral about to fall off of the fridge. Georgie smiles. It's kind of nice. 

Sasha clears her throat before Jon shakes himself and decides to talk for himself. Sasha smiles at him.

“Uh. If it's alright, do you wanna catch up? Sasha and I haven't eaten lunch and you could come with us?” Jon asks.

Georgie hums, tapping her chin and then smiling, “Yeah. Thai place down the street?”

“”Sounds great.””


	32. Movie Night with Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapters working title was: I'm fluffing up the pillows before ripping your heart out later :))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Literally just fluffy. This is a self indulgent chapter. Sometimes you need a soft

They all went to Tim and Martin’s flat because it was the only one that was really habitable. Jon and Sasha’s flat was unused and everything had been shut off since they paid rent late. It wasn’t like that stopped them from living but still, uninhabitable for the next day or so. Melanie was living with Georgie, and she was napping at the moment so Tim and Martin's flat was better. Not waking up sleeping beauty over there with their antics.

Jon had made them all stop at the grocery store for ingredients, since he had an idea and they were all in for the ride. Also Martin and Tim did not have a great spice rack and he would wring them out for it. He said the spices were an early Christmas present. He promised them a cake though so they didn’t get on his case too much. Sasha helped him reach the highest shelves in the grocer as Melanie snickered and took pictures of the group to send to Georgie later. 

Then they made a pit stop to Jon and Sasha's to grab the Polaroid and a new cartridge of film so they could get photos together that wouldn’t get Not Themed. Sasha snapped a few pictures on the way to the flat. 

There were pictures of Melanie walking into a pole and proceeding to cuss it out as if it had personally wronged her, and stole her lunch. The picture was blurry but a keeper. She had the red mark on her face for thirty minutes, grumbling about how they should have stopped her. 

Martin snatched the camera to take a picture of Sasha holding Jon up like a rendition of the Lion King. Jon had protested and kicked, glaring. But in the end he allowed it, simply hitting Martin in the leg with a bag of groceries. Martin had merely snickered which lead to Jon sticking his tongue out at him. 

Then there was a picture of Jon giving Sasha a piggyback ride. It was a very hilarious piggyback ride, due to Sasha’s long legs sticking out very far. She accidentally almost fell backwards and choked Jon, which ended up with both of them on the ground. The pictures were hilarious. 

Tim had posed on a bench for a picture, laying across it like a dork. Sasha snapped a picture before Melanie ran and jumped on him, both of them a mess on the bench and laughing. That pictures was just legible enough to send them all in gales of laughter together. Tim and Melanie were still shouldering each other into walls for a couple minutes afterwards. 

It felt like being younger again. 

Then they were at the flat, having taken a way longer time than necessary. A twenty minute walk turned into a forty five minute one with all the shenanigans and falling and roughhousing. Once in the flat Martin grabbed a few movies and Jon banished people from his area. Sasha sat on the counter though, taking up space. He swatted at her with a spatula before using said spatula to mix a few ingredients for cake. She made herself useful by handing him the exact ingredient he was thinking of. 

Tim and Martin did argue over licking the bowl, while Melanie sneakily took it for herself and sat on the couch, watching them fight for a treat that she had already begun to devour. Sasha had taken a picture while giggling, you could see blurry figures and then Melanie in the back grinning like the Cheshire cat, licking a spoon. 

Jon did start on actual food then, cooking Biryani. As he went about this, Tim and Martin found out about the horrible tragedy that was Melanie stealing the bowl. Tim cried out in mock pain and Martin sighed and gave Melanie sad eyes. She did not budge, taking a scoop of batter to her mouth and enjoying it in their suffering. Sadistic.

When food was done and everyone started to chow down Martin started the movie. Ponyo began and they all sat on the couch other than Melanie, who took the chair for herself. Claiming that she was too attractive to sit with other people. Tim snorted and then told her scoot over. She had thrown him a dangerous look and everyone laughed. 

Jon and Sasha sat next to each other. After eating everyone cuddled closer. Sasha had an arm around Jon’s shoulder, to which he leaned into, and the other arm was around Tim’s shoulders. Martin had allowed Jon to put his cold socked feet on his lap. Jon was a warmth thief. 

Melanie had taken a picture on the Polaroid and her phone, sending it to Georgie. Georgie responded with, “Aww send me all the pictures!! I want blackmail >:3”

Melanie sent all the pictures, some she had to take pictures of the Polaroids. She texted, “Look at these idiots.”

Georgie sent a laughing emoji, probably giggling out of her mind. She could see that her darling podcasting girlfriend had screenshotted all of these pictures.

“We should buy a photo book!” Sasha pipes up. Martin grins and nods, there was a pile pf photos on the coffee table. 

“With how many Polaroids you have you should swing for more than one photo book.” Melanie says, chucking a throw pillow at the group of tangled archival employees. It hit Jon in the face and he glared before Tim threw it back at her. She caught it and grinned victoriously. 

Sasha hums, “Good idea actually. We can have one for the crew and one for us! We can make copies for everyone.”

“Aww that's sweet.” Martin says.

They all settle down and watch the rest of Ponyo in silence, holding each other and being soft. Melanie was texting Georgie as she was editing the podcast, her sound effect work takes forever, and everyone could believe it.

Jon shot up after the timer for the cake went off. He got it out of the oven, and it smelled delicious. He swatted at wandering hands that tried to touch the cake. They forgot frosting but frosting always was weird to Jon so he didn’t mind. Neither did anyone else really, cake was cake, especially if it smelled as good as this cake was smelling.

After fifteen minutes of waiting around the table for the cake to cool off enough for Jon to cut into it, they were all tired. Melanie then had the brightest idea to take out the alcohol to wash the cake down with. 

After the second slice of cake everything is a bit fuzzy for the crew, Melanie challenged Tim to a drinking contest in which he won surprisingly. Melanie muttered about getting a head start, but it was all in good fun. Sasha had somehow ended up throwing a slipper at Martin, which he had clumsily dodged. He wasn’t drunk, he didn't drink very much, just clumsy.

The night ended up with them all asleep on the couch, Melanie hogging the chair to herself, declaring herself the queen. Jon surprisingly laughed and playfully sat on the arm of the seat. She had pushed him off but he had just stayed on the ground, splayed out. Sasha had to pick him up, even though both of them were giggling out of their mind. 

Then they were all out like a light.


	33. Descent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Title: >:3 I am simply here to cause pain
> 
> Long chapter today folks!! 2000 words >:0 Imagine that!
> 
> I start school the 24, like in person school. Wish me luck, and If I dont update as often forgive me! I like writing in the mornings and my mornings will be spent trying to not get plague

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Canon typical violence, Minor Trauma from backround character, Arguments, swearing, fear of eyes, talk about clowns and the unknowing, fear of the world ending

There was a month before the Unknowing. Everyone had thrown themselves into work more often than not. Martin was trying to make sure everyone ate and drank between his own research. Still Tim had barely spoken a word and everyone had started staying later and later. Melanie only went home when Georgie woke up at like 11 to work on editing and to bitch about sponsors. Jon and Sasha have spent more nights in the Archives than they have in their own beds. Martin stayed to make sure that everyone was alright. He was tired though, his back hurting from terrible office chairs.

Tim had stacks of files on his desk, all about the Unknowing and its history. When it was last attempted, what they might need to do said ritual. He had closed himself off after the week of the movie night, working determidley towards dangerous habits and ideas. He had a conspiracy board for fuck’s sakes, a big one that he kept next to his desk.

Jon and Sasha did not help the growing obsession Tim had. They had taken pictures of his board and used it to make their own mess of a notebook. Sasha filled a full sized notebook with ideas and things they learned, having to break out a new one. It had coffee stains and something red that was probably cherry juice. Jon and Sasha were practically in eachothers lap, writing and muttering and walking around with a quick preciseness that no one dared get in their way.

Sometimes they Knew where a certain file was and they would hunt it down before stalking back to their den to conspire more, reading through it in mere seconds, consuming the information.

Martin worried about them. He worried even more so when Daisy and Basira were downstairs, glaring down anyone getting in the way of their own research. Their research was not about the unknowing, but other acolytes of the Entities Jon-and-Sasha told them about. It was a mess. Basira could be found looking through files or deep in the hallways of the archives. She did not interact with them all much. Though she had started placing files based on the Unknowing and spooky clown stuff on Tim’s desk.

Daisy was usually out, doing something or other. An errand for the boss they all collectively hated. When she was there was pointedly not looking at any of them, and snarling at interruptions. 

This had sparked many arguments between Tim and Daisy. There was even a point during one of their spats where Sasha and Jon had gotten in the middle and stared both yelling parties down. Sasha had almost had to do something to restrain Daisy from attacking. Jon had raised a brow at Tim, which made Tim flip him off. They had apologized to each other later, but the air was tense until Tim had grudgingly said sorry.

The archives were tense most of the time. Melanie had almost stabbed Jon with a fork when he scared her in the breakroom, going off on him for thirty minutes until he was close to tears, Sasha had cut her off after getting over the shock. It had been a fight, Jon-and-Sasha holding their own against Melanie. They had ended up barricading themselves in their office for a few hours, refusing to unlock the door.

She apologized later, and they forgave her. Something was obviously wrong, and they didn’t want to press. They loved their friend, even if there was something different about her, something getting worse like an infection.

Melanie was prone to screaming and angry fits more often. Martin had hidden the knives from the breakroom. Where they had gone no one but he knew. Jon-and-Sasha had no clue, and they didn’t care to know.

A week before the unknowing they found a note in a file about a storage unit of Gertrudes. Jon-and-Sasha had automatically got their coats on and went to go check it out, curious about what she could have stored away. If it wasn’t interesting they'd be a little disappointed. They hadn’t thought to tell anyone else where they were going, just walking insync up the stairs in a one track determinedness to go to the address. Tim watched as they left, and went back to his own thoughts.

\------

The garage unit was in an old run down storage place. They had found the key snooping around, and the unit was one of the older ones, probably as old as Gertrude Robinson had been. Jon-and-Sasha walked hand in hand, scarred palm holding a key in a tight grip. The woman up front was on the phone, talking to whoever she pleased. She paid no attention to the quiet duo. Their footsteps were silent. 

Jon Knew her name was Maurice Leans, she had an encounter with a Hunt acolyte when she first started working at 16. This was her father’s business and he was helping someone in the back with a piece of furniture. A couch that had been passed down after someone's mother went peacefully in a hospital. Maurice was scared of many things. 

When she finally noticed them her eyes widened. It took her a few seconds to realize something was weird about them, and when she did Jon could feel her fear. It was a flash of panic because she hadn’t heard them.

Sasha merely raised her hand in greeting, Jon watched.

“I’m here for unit X35? Last owner was Gertrude Robinson?” Sasha said, smiling pleasantly. There was something weird in the back of her throat.

Maurice stared at them, her mind was racing. Jon could See it, all the sudden thoughts of them being killers, or stalkers, or Hunters. She worried. She would not look Jon in the eyes, were they glowing? What a terrifying shade of toxic green.

“Yes. Uh. Let me get Mr. Leans for you.” She walked away, faster than necessary. 

Sasha-and-Jon waited patiently, Sasha was messing with the keys and Jon was looking around at the place. It was decorated with antiques and road signs. It was both cluttered but inviting. There were little trinkets and keychains, Jon had his head cocked looking at a little eye motif. Sasha hummed, looking at the rusty key.

When Geralt Leans came in, he too felt wary of them. They looked a mess. He was not scared. He felt strong enough to take on a tall woman in heels and a short man who was swallowed by a sweater. Still something was weird about the two. 

“Names?”

“”Sasha and Jon-”” They looked at eachother and Sasha cleared her throat with a good natured smile, “Sasha James and Jonathan Sims, here on behalf of the Magnus Institute Archives.”

Geralt nods at them, “Where is Gertrude?”

Sasha hums, “She passed. We were told to grab some things from there.”

“Uh will you two be able to unload it all by yourself-?” He trails off. God they were unsettling. It was like walking into a room and it's just a touch too cold, you left the blinds and window open. 

Sasha gives a laugh and Geralt and Maurice swear they see something in the back of her throat, “No we just are looking for something specific. Anything else you can do what you please with.”

“Ok. You’ll have to sign a waiver before going in, and then when you leave you sign over the rights to the items left behind.” The man says. Jon scrawls a signature, speed reading through the whole thing in a few seconds. Sasha signs her name next. 

“Key?”

Sasha holds the old key up with a jingle. Geralt nods and he gives Maurice a look. He has the police on speed dial if she hears screaming. Jon-and-Sasha almost laugh. 

They walk after him, looking around at all the people. People were clearing out units, some were dragging things in. There would be an auction on sold units soon. Geralt led them to Gertrude’s unit.

They unlocked the door, “You two think you'll need any help finding what you need?”

He didn’t trust them alone in his place of business, they were creepy. Maybe he was a little curious as to what these weirdos were getting from a unit.

“We’ll be fine. We’ll… call if we need assistance.” Sasha said, her voice a bit cold. They both went into the dim unit, able to see better than a normal person. 

The unit was dusty with disuse, and they had to separate to be able to move anywhere. Jon was looking for something to stop the Unknowing. The wax museum was their biggest problem. 

They looked around, methodically grabbing small things that might help before seeing a box. They looked at eachother and opened the heavy thing, thankful they had no tape keeping it shut.

Explosives, the detonator packaged just so, every single on not active but ready to be set off with little help.

They grinned.

As they got up, Sasha held the box, Jon keeping the door open for her. They walk back to the front room, through the door. Maurice looks back up at them, the box, them, the box. She slides the paper to them. Jon scrawls his signature and Sasha sets the box down to do the same. Geralt watches them from the doorway to the units. They merely wave.

He tries to act polite, “Find what you were looking for?”

“Yes.” She says, taking the box back from the floor. Jon looks at the box, and they both know there are exactly 16 C4s in there.

“Box sure looks heavy!” He jokes and Sasha hums. Jon nods. Then they leave, going back to work. Jon opens doors for her, making sure she doesn't trip. It's a careful dance with a heavy box between them.

They get back into the institute and walk down the stairs. 

“Where have you two been-! Oh…?” Martin says eyeing the heavy box. Sasha sets it down, her hand and Jon’s clasping together again.

“”We have a plan.””

\-----

The plan was easy enough. Daisy even chipped in to place the C4. Why? They would never know... 

There was something else though.

“I’m not going to let you fucking kill yourself Tim!” Sasha yells, slamming her palms on the desk. Jon watches, but he doesn’t want to, because now he can see the anger and desperation on Tim’s face.

Tim leans closer, slamming his hands down as well, “You don’t understand!”

“That’s a suicide mission! You’ll get yourself and us killed!” Sasha is clenching her teeth. They’re distressed. They worry for their friend so much. They can’t lose Tim, can't lose him like they lose everything. Their family, their humanity. They Need him. They need Tim and Martin and Melanie and Georgie. 

“What the hell am i supposed to do then? Sit around and hope everything goes well, wait for the end of the world? Sit outside as the fucking clown that killed my brother suffers where I. cant. See?!” He was turning red.

They stopped, anger at him suddenly became sadness.

“You would end it all just to get revenge?”

“That's why I joined this hell! For Danny!” He was hugging himself, “You can’t stop me from doing this. If you try I won't forgive you. Ever. Dead or alive.”

And he leaves. Sasha sits down, and they both slide to the floor. And they cry for Tim and everything that has gone on. God they felt pathetic, sitting there, crying on the floor alone. They had to save their friends, but how could they? Sasha-and-Jon stayed on the floor for hours.

Three days until the Unknowing, until they watch as a wax place goes up in smoke, smatteres of molten wax blown to bits, acolytes of a Stranger, of something uncanny. All of this could be gone. The world could end and be replaced with a hellish apocalypse of dancing mannequins and fear. They might lose Tim, they might lose Martin. They might lose each other. 

Martin would stay behind and create a distraction for Melanie to steal confessions and evidence from Elias’s desk. All they had to do was stop the end of the world.

It was so little and yet so much.


	34. The Unknowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: Shit hits the fan MAJORLY
> 
> :))) It gets worse before it gets better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW; Explosions, Unreality, Talk about Death, Talks about Coma's, Fear of Loved Ones Passing, Scopophobia

The Wax Museum was confusing. They had easily gotten in, the acolytes of this place not being able to See them like Elias might when people enter his Institute. Tim came with them, walking ahead of them. Jon-and-Sasha walked cautiously as Daisy started putting C4’s around. Martin and Melanie stayed behind, as per the plan. 

The halls stretched as if this were Michael’s domain. They walked behind Tim, who held the detonator, his confidence worried them about his finality. Sasha-and-Jon worriedly watched him, as if to make sure he didn't prematurely fuck them all over. Their heart aches.

Everything smells like aloe and the circus. Like cotton candy and rotting skin. Peanut shells and wax. Jon-and-Sasha wondered if everything was going to stay this calm. It would be anticlimactic, they think, if nothing happened and they left to go blow the place to bits without interruption. Of Course that would be the easier route, and they think they would prefer that route.

They must have jinxed it, thinking that everything would be ok. Whenever they think something is ok it ends up not being ok, morphing into something that will surely ruin a whole day if not kill them. 

Everything went to hell faster than they would have liked honestly. First, Tim and Daisy were separated from them, leaving them alone and clutching each other, trying to find their friends- or at least, their coworkers. There was a booming feminine voice, bubbly and fun. That must be Nikola Orsinov. They’ve heard about the person plenty.

She grinned down at them, before everything felt wrong. They were alone? Where is everyone? Who is that? They couldn’t See! Wasn’t someone just right in front of them?

“”Tim! Daisy?” They were struggling to do anything until they heard a voice.

“It's Me Tim!” Yes yes that was Tim! It must be right? He had told them he was there. Of course it’s Tim.

“”Tim we have to get out of here!”” Jon-and-Sasha yelled, oh god they know something bad is about to happen. They pray that Tim will listen to them, please please. 

‘Tim’ simply smiled and his hands touched their faces and why did his hands feel so small? Why were his hands cold and why did those hands not feel like skin? 

“It’s Ok! Everything's Fine! It Will All Be Over Soon!” The voice was slowly getting more giddy, something joyful and malicious bubbling up like boiling tea about to spill over the edge. That was not Tim! 

Jon-and-Sasha Saw, that was not their friend telling them that it would be alright. It was the mannequin ringleader of the Unknowing, gloating to them while they were defenseless.

“”Tim! That isn’t who you think it is!”” They scream, trying to move. They struggle to move, unable to even know where their hands are. They feel each other hand clasped in theirs though, and that's a good start. Still it was so hard to see. To understand. Everything was weird and off, and they could see nothing but the grinning plastic and skin horror that watched them with glee, holding poppets.

“I Wasn’t Able To Kidnap You Since You Never Leave The Institute But I Made Due! Say Hi To Gertrude and Jurgen Leitner!” Two things wearing the skin of said two people waved, talking in their voices.

Sasha-and-Jon held closer, unable to do anything but that. 

They hear Tim talking to someone. He's talking to something that was not them. He thinks he's talking to Sasha. Daisy is fighting Breekon and Hope. She is winning as far as they can tell between the fog of struggling to understand anything. 

“”Tim! Tim please!””

“He Can't Hear you Silly! He’s Talking To You Over There!” Nikola giggled, dancing around. There is a tap on the mannequin's shoulder, Nikola turns and starts to argue with Sarah Baldwin. They knew who it was. 

Sarah looks at them, and back to Nikola, then back to them, back to Nikola, “You need to continue the dance instead of tormenting those who will be crushed under the unknowing.”

Nikola tuts.

Jon-and-Sasha scream for Tim to notice them please! 

Tim turns, his face shifting weirdly.

“Tim whats in your hand?” Sasha Asks, her voice layered with static. It is a tense second, Tim is gritting his teeth, but he looks down and he sees what he truly has. It must have been strange to be broken from the vision the Stranger gave him. As he tore through the trance he looked up at them.

“The detonator!” He says, voice raw from getting Asked the question. He looks at everything, he sees Breekon and his coffin, he sees Nikola Orsinov with her poppets, he sees the things wearing Gertrude and Leitners skin, he sees Sasha-and-Jon.

Triumph takes over his face as he realizes the power he holds, “Oh Nikola!”

Nikola turns and freezes, face going a blank as it could when you're plastic, “You Wouldn’t!” 

Tim smiles, “I am. Sasha, Jon. I love you two. So much.”

“Stop It! Don’t You Dare! This Isn’t Funny!” The voice is booming, angrily. Nikola cannot come closer to the threat.

There is a second of silence and then Jon-and-Sasha laugh, a little one, desperate. Tim looks at them with stars in his eyes and gives his own laugh before looking Nikola Orsinov dead in the blank sheet that was their face.

“It really is.” And they see no more.

\------

Dreaming. They're dreaming. This is a dream but it's so long, never stopping. When are they going to wake up? Is this a coma? You don’t dream while in a coma, but logic could never be applied to them after the worms, after age eight with a leitner, after age thirteen with a close call with horror. Nothing could be applied when you work under Elias.

They were touching. They were holding hands in the dreams, Jon is a being made entirely of eyes and Sasha is a void with an eye instead of a mouth. They're one, but not. Their hands are practically injured together, unable to tell where the void starts and where eyes begin. They rather like being separate and together. 

It's not lonely. They watch terrors on both interest and horror. Re-watching things. They see a pattern. They can see Naomi and many others who gave statements live. They dreamed about paper statements too, seeing into those lives. The Not Them and Graham Folger, Mary Keay, Lietner. 

They watch and take it all in, but they should be awake by now. They've seen this all over and over and over. 

They need to wake up.

Death is permanent, unless you are of the End. Even then it will come. It will find you. Jon-and-Sasha know this like they know each other. They are not dead. They are just… Not Alive. Tim. That's a word they remember, even under all of these boring nightmares. Tim. He's important to them.

They need to wake up.


	35. Hospital Beds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Title: You really thought.
> 
> I am updating this at like 5 in the morning before getting ready for in person school. RIP me. My schedule might be screwed for a while, please forgive me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Hospitals, Peter Lukas Mentions, Coma's, Scarring mentions, Coping

Tim didn’t think he would live through the Unknowing. Sure he had acted brave, but in the end he set off the explosion in the middle of it, and thought with all certainty that he would never wake up. Thought he might see Danny again, when he died. If there was an after life. He certainly didn't think he'd wake up to the clinical smell of a hospital.

He even wakes up to have visitors. Martin and Melanie and even Basira are around his bedside. Tim blinks a few times, adjusting to the light in the place, and the feeling of tubes in his body.

“Tim?” Martin sounds close to tears. He barely has the strength blink, let alone get up and hug his friends like he wanted to. Still he turned his head slightly, a small smile on his face.

“H- Hey guys.” He coughs and Melanie looks ready to call in a nurse or something before he shakes his head.

Melanie looks at him with a smile, and he feels a bit happy to see her being friendly, before all of this everything had been tense. Then she ruffles his slightly shorter hair.

“You dumbass. I’m gonna kick your ass when you get better.” She says it fondly, and Tim lets out a startled laugh. He’s glad to see them.

After a few minutes of quiet, him gaining enough strength to talk really, and everyone letting him, he looks down at himself. Burn scars everywhere, on his exposed arms and he just knows they're on his legs and chest too. 

Martin gives a watery chuckle, “None on your face. I know you’re worried about that.”

Tim laughs again, “Of course I’m worried about the face. Very important you see.”

Melanie snorts and rolls her eyes, “Very important Stoker.” She goes quiet for a second, “We’re glad you lived.”

It takes a minute before he can say genuinely, “I’m glad too. I’d miss you all too much if I went kayaking in heaven.”

The three visitors were ushered out by a few doctors before they could talk much more, but it was enough for him to see them. It was irrational, but if he had woken up alone he might have cried. Then he remembered. Where were Jon and Sasha? Did they…

\----

Martin and Melanie went to visit Jon and Sasha together. Basira was out looking for Daisy, hopeful that she hadn’t gone up in flames during the explosion. No doctors stopped them from going in. They knew Martin, and they knew Melanie now because she had started visiting. The hospital staff already knew not to stop people from visiting the almost dead coma patients. 

Jon and Sasha laid together on the hospital bed. No doctor nor strongman could take them apart, so there they were. There weren't many noises. The heart monitor stayed flat, but their brain activity was still spiked. Melanie and Martin were just glad they weren’t completely gone. 

Martin still had that crush. It was a silly crush that only grew when their friendship became closer. He didn’t know if Jon could ever really reciprocate, being supernaturally connected to someone could probably eliminate most romantic relationships. He came to terms with that, even if he still had that nagging hope.

But he loved them both. Jon and Sasha, both the unit, and the individuals were his friends, he loved them, spooky or not. 

Melanie sat on the other side of the bed, watching her friends. They were so still. Untouched by anything, their hair had been cut short by medical officials. Melanie let herself laugh, because she knew they'd hate it. At least it wasn’t a buzzcut. Sasha would have razed hell, and she knew Jon would probably help. 

She let out a huffed laugh which slowly turned into a sad sigh. Her phone buzzed and she looked to see a text from Georgie, “What's your plans for today?”

Melanie texts back, “Just got done visiting Tim in the hospital. He woke up btw.”

“Oh dope! I’ll come in and give him my best wishes soon.” The notification comes back a minute later. Melanie waits, her fingers not yet typing out anything.

“Jon and Sasha are still under.”

The (...) typing bubble comes up for a few moments, stops, and comes back. Melanie watches it, even if not to let herself get mad. Why should she be mad? They hadn’t hurt her? She was angry that they were practically dead and she couldn’t do anything about it.

“They’ll make it through mel.”

Melanie touches the screen to her forehead, before typing, “Yeah. I hope so.”

Then she texts again, before the read receipt even comes on, “Lets get dinner. I’ll pay.”

Georgie responds with a heart emojis, “Sounds good.”

“I’ll be home in an hour.”

“Can’t wait to see you.”

\------

Tim gets out of the hospital a week later. He had healed pretty well in his month-long coma, though he lamented the buzzcut he got. Of course he knew that it was probably terribly burned hair before they sheared him but still! It would take him forever to get it to grow back. Martin had fondly teased him about it. 

He had taken to visiting Jon and Sasha after a week of being home and taking work leave. It was so nice to be free of the tubes and such, and he did nothing but catch up on news and watch movies with Martin and Melanie and even Georgie when she decided to come around with her girlfriend. 

Jon and Sasha didn’t wake up. Not in the month Tim was out, nor did they wake up the next month. They were stagnant. The only thing keeping the doctors from throwing them into the morgue and moving on was the brain activity, and probably outside influence. They all suspected Elias was keeping them in the room. 

Going back to work sucked. They got Elias arrested and there was a new guy taking over. Peter Lukas. 

Peter Lukas had tried to get Martin to work for him, trying to get him to take the position of Assistant to the Head of Institute. Peter Lukas did not get an assistant that day, he got a very aggressive small woman jabbing him in the arm with a fork. Tim had threatened to kill him if he tried to do any spooky shit to Martin. Basira watched Peter with cold eyes, as if thinking about all the places a bullet would go best.

Peter Lukas did not come back downstairs to the archives again.

\----

It was late at night, the night nurses carefully avoiding the room with the practically dead supernatural horrors. 

A man was sitting by their bedside. A man named Oliver Banks.

And when Oliver left, Jon-and-Sasha shot up into a sitting position, bright eyes colored green and red, filled with new vigor.


	36. Catch Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: Family! Also some good ass spooky twins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Hospitals, General spooks, Fear of losing a loved one, anxiety
> 
> Alright I'm going strong with two days into school updating at 5 in the morning XD Wish me luck and i hope you all have a good one :D

When Martin went to visit the next day he noticed the nurses avoided him like the plague. He walked to Jon and Sasha’s room, along with Tim. They both gave each other looks of confusion before being stopped before going into the room. Martin’s heart almost stopped when he noticed the look on the woman's face. Did they die?

“They woke up last night.” Martin and Tim let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding. “Uh. They haven’t talked to anyone. We suggest not going in there.”

Tim laughs, “We will be fine.”

The nurse gives them almost pitying looks, before leaving. They venture into the room to see that both Jon and Sasha are staring at the wall, eyes glowing. They both had a green eye and a red one. Tim almost screamed before looking at them again. They should have expected this.

“Sasha? Jon?”

There was no response. Martin walked closer and at the footsteps, their heads snapped to them. There was a quick intake of breath from Martin, startled slightly.

“Jon? Sasha?”

Still no answer from them, but the two of them were still staring. Tim walked closer, watching them both cautiously. Where had the red come from, they wondered if it was because of the explosion or maybe anger? They both were right by the bed before Martin had an idea. He both hoeps it works and hopes it doesn’t.

“Jon and Sasha?” He asks. This makes them blink and cock their heads to the left. It was so insync Martin cringed.

Tim looks at them with sorrow in his eyes, “No. They can’t be like that forever.”

Martin looked at both of them, cautiously waving his hand in front of them, “Jon and Sasha, can you hear me?”

The two merely blinked at him, vague interest in their eyes. What could they even do? This wasn't them, hell it wasn’t even something they would expect from their identity crisis’. Martin was close enough to touch them.

“It's us. Your friends.” Martin says cautiously, he and Tim are terrified that this was it. This was how they lost their friends. Tim couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault.

“Tim and Martin, yeah? Remember us? We had movie night a few weeks ago, we watched Ponyo and Jon cooked. Melanie stole the cake batter bowl and licked it while me and Martin fought?” Tim was both so disparaged and frustrated he wanted to hit something. 

Then Jon and Sasha blinked a few times, as if remembering something. There was a second where Tim and Martin stood with baited breath to see if their friends would go back to normal or if it would be more blank. They went blank again and Martin almost started crying.

“We’ve been working together for almost two years. We all stayed the night together that one night when Daisy attacked us? You came to ur rescue remember? Jon cooked and Sasha sat on the counter and you both shooed us out of the kitchen for being in the way?” Tim said imploringly. They could not lose their friends like this.

There was a moment of clarity in their blurry eyes and they blinked a few times again. Their eyes widened as they focused on the two in front of them.

“”Martin? Tim?”” Their voices were soft and rough. 

“Yes that's us!” Martin said encouragingly, Tim’s hand grabbed his arm as if to say look! They’re still them!

The two of them took a few more seconds before a smile started to spread on their faces, disbelieving and so so happy. They launched forward to hug Martin and Tim, too happy to care about decorum. 

“”You’re alive!”” They both cheered for Tim when the hug ended. Martin laughed at how bright they seemed, even if it was worrying how… Ok they were. 

“Yeah I lived! You guys wouldn’t have been able to do anything without me!” He grinned, but there was something in his eyes. He looked sad. Worried. Angry.

Then at that moment Sasha grabbed Tim by the ear, “You idiot! You’re lucky we love you or we would beat you! Grr! Don’t do anything that stupid again you hear? I’d have to leak all your secrets if you did!”

“Not my secrets!” Tim says, it's good natured. Sasha lets him go with a huffed laugh and a glare that didn’t bite. She hugged him again.

Jon was looking at Martin with a smile, his eyes not terribly overbearing, “How did it go on your end, well I am assuming. Or Tim would be bitching about Elias by now.” 

Martin let out a laugh, “Yeah everything went well. Elias is contained.”

“You make him sound like a mold.” Jon snickers. He looks so happy to see his friends alive, happy to see Martin. 

“He is a mold!” Martin counters, basking in the friendliness of the room, of being included.

Their brief moment ended, Jon and Sasha were holding hands again. Martin and Tim smiled at them, just glad they weren’t in that fugue state anymore. They would ask later.

“Peter Lukas is running the place now.” Tim says, sitting down carefully. Martin takes his own chair to pull up and the four of them are all sitting.

Jon and Sasha make a face, “The donor one, the Peter Lukas that keeps occurring in statements?” Sasha asks.

“The very one.” Martin says bitterly.

This made Sasha and Jon pause for a second, “Did he try anything?”

Tim looked agitated, but not at them, “Yeah he tried something. Tried to take Martin as his assistant. Me and Mel and Basira took care of that issue though.”

Martin snickered, “Melanie stabbed him with a fork.”

“Good Lord she uses a fork to threaten everyone!” Jon says, and they remember the time Melanie almost stabbed him. Jon laughed though and Sasha snorted, so Tim and Martin had permission to giggle at the statement.

“Hey it's a very talented fork.” Martin says, and they all laugh.

“”Melanie makes due!”” Sasha and Jon say, their smiling faces reliving most of the leftover tension in the room. 

Tim grinned, “Basira almost pulled her gun on him, he probably would have pissed his pants.”

Sasha and Jon laughed, “I thought she got hers taken when she left the force?”

“I think she kept it. Kinda scary actually.” Martin says, tapping his chin in fake thought. 

It goes quiet for a few minutes, just basking in the companionship. Jon and Sasha are looking at them, as if it will be the last time they ever see them, as if they were cataloging every feature and detail to put to memory. It could have felt intrusive, but they knew their friends. Sasha and Jon loved them, and it was nice that they wanted to make sure they never forgot those they loved.

“What about Daisy?” Sasha asked. She looked worried.

Tim and Martin looked down sadly, “Basira’s out looking for her. We think… we think she didn’t make it.”

Jon and Sasha look down for a second, Daisy hurt them. They had hurt her back. It seemed like such a tragic way to go, in a wax museum. They mourned for her in a weird way, a way you can when you know that it could have been different.

“How's Melanie and Georgie?” Jon asked this time. Sasha was trying not to dominate their words, but it was hard. They remembered being almost One in Two bodies. Something split between forms instead of separate people. Having Tim and Martin there helped but they were so close. It was hard not to think of themselves as the Voice and Gaze, an inseparable creature, so woven together it was like a tapestry.

“Melanie’s gotten angrier, but Georgie’s trying to help… We think it’s something…”

“Spooky?” Sasha input, before Jon glared at his other half, sending them all into giggles, before returning their somber nature.

“Yeah. Spooky.” Tim said, crossing his arms.

“Uh. How are the burns?” Sasha asks softly, there is no static only worry.

Tim looks down and sighs, “Weird. Everything feels kinda off? I mean I expected that from skin grafts, I’m just glad I didn’t lose a limb or something.”

“”We’re glad too. You give good hugs.”” They said insync, and Tim laughed. It's a soft moment.

Martin cant hold his question anymore, “What was that earlier? When you two were staring at the wall?” 

They both pause, “I think we were lost.” Sasha says.

“You know when we randomly Know things?” Jon taps his cheek with his free hand/

“Yeah?” “Yes…” Tim and Martin reply.

Sasha nods, “It was like we couldn’t stop knowing things? Like there was so much information that we just shut down shop for a bit… But then you two came in and started talking us out of it.” She sounds fond, both Jon and Sasha are looking at thm with soft eyes and Tim and Martin feel warm.

“That makes sense. We're just glad you got out of it.” Martin says, looking away from the intense gaze they both held. He didn’t want to get his hopes up with the emotion behind it.

Jon and Sasha look pained for a moment, and Martin is close to calling the nurses before Sasha rasps out that they're hungry, nothing life threatening.

“You want us to go get you hospital food?” Tim asks, ready to grab them something, to be a good friend like Melanie and Martin had been for him while recovering.

Sasha and Jon shook their heads, “No spooky hungry.”

Martin scrambled for his bag, grabbing a file, “Had it just in case.” He says instead of wasting time explaining. They take it gratefully, giving both their friends a meaningful look. 

Tim and Martin left the room to wait outside. They didn’t much care to be in the room while they read their horrors. It was a bit unnerving.

Jon and Sasha dove into the statement like ravenous wolves, reading and taking it all in. They felt the same fear that the statement giver had.

They felt strangely empty afterwards.

They left the hospital that day, going to Tim and Martin's place so they could get a good night's sleep.


	37. intervene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title for this chapter: IDENTITY CRISIS ONE O ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Identity issues, talk of eat, Disordered monster eating, Melanie's Slaughter Thoughs

Sasha and Jon were different after the coma. They had all kind of expected it though. Quieter, more likely to zone out, in their office more often with a statement. Tim and Martin trusted them to tell them if something was wrong but they obviously had misplaced trust in those two idiots. So of course they decide to intervene. Martin had been much less shy these past months, slowly growing out of his shell.

Tim and Martin came in with tea mugs, Jon and Sasha looked up surprisingly. Smiling when they saw the two, a bit surprised looking, pleasantly surprised though. They were in between two statements. With how voraciously they tore through statements, they had actually gotten a quarter of the archives looking like someone cared about their job. 

Martin sat down two mugs for Jon and Sasha, and Tim sat down their cups in front of the guest seats. They smiled back at Sasha and Jon, making the two look even more confused, smiling a bit more and cocking their heads.

Jon and Sasha looked confused, but happily confused, “What are you two up to?”

It would be hard to break things to them when they looked so happy to see their friends, but Tim smiled at them, swirling his warm tea around and taking a sip.

Martin decided to just rip the bandaid off, “Something is wrong. You two haven’t told us because you’re obviously trying not to worry us, even though you are.”

Sasha and Jon’s smiles slowly fall to exhaustion. Jon took his cup, taking a sip as if to have an excuse to not talk. Sasha looked into her mug, before sighing as if defeated. 

“We’re hungry lately. Not normal hungry, like before all this. It's like no matter how many statements we go through it's not enough, we’re… scared. We don’t want to go out and hurt people like the people in statements. And it's hard not to start searching for more, especially when we’re alone…” Sasha says. They both dont look at Tim or Martin. 

Tim and Martin sit for a second. At a loss for what to do. On one hand, monster friends come with issues obviously, second they wouldn’t abandon their friends for anything. Yes they both had doubts about their life, and who they keep company with, but at the end of it all they couldn’t go without their friends. 

“Lets try something then. Buddy system!” Tim says with a smile.

Jon and Sasha cock their heads, but Tim rushes to explain, “You two can have a kind of supervisor, one or both of us, to make sure you don't eat anyone’s trauma!”

Martin waits for Sasha and Jon to think about it, both of them turn to Tim and Martin with a small smile, “”Yeah. We’d love that.”

Tim grins at a job well done, and Martin sips his tea with a hum. 

“Maybe we could try something different than statements, yeah? Like those online scary stories? Or maybe those online videos of ghosts and stuff!” Tim suggests.

Jon and Sasha blink and then both laugh, shaking their heads at him, “We can try that.”

\------

Sasha and Jon did not remember what it was like to be separate. It was so weird now, to imagine that they could have been anything but themself. Sasha James the person. Jonathan Sims, another person. Theoretically they Knew, they Knew they were separate, that this was happening because of something outside of their control, but it's so strange. 

Being alone seemed like a sin now. 

Maybe that was why they had talked to Peter Lukas, threatening him within an inch of his life. They had told him in no uncertain terms that they, like the other archival assistants, would take his life faster than he could blink them away to the Lonely. If he tried to touch them or their friends they would dissect him and take out all that was lonely and alone and gorge themselves on it, leaving him nothing but seen and Known. They would tear him apart and show off the parts to the horrible thing that feeds their life like a cat with fresh meat.

He sputtered and said that he had not stepped a foot down there. They had simply smiled at him and said “”good.”” Before leaving. It had been easy to scare him. He couldn’t banish them to the Lonely, not when they were together, not when they were glowing and Looking at him. 

They had trouble not acting on urges. Like feeding off of random people, or maybe kissing Martin or Tim. They don’t know if that's an urge from their own subconscious or the curious thing that watched over them. Sasha and Jon did wonder though… What would that be like? Would it be nice? Would Martin and Tim even like them back? Would the kiss be magical or would it be just… normal?

Was it their feelings? Did they have any separation? Were they just colors bleeding into each other forever until they were the same? Is that so bad if they are? The last human part of them said yes, but the loving monstrous part of them purred at never being alone, at the idea of love so capable. They are fully seen by each other, fears and issues and flaws. Tied by a rope of hunger and eyes.

Jon and Sasha leaned against each other most of the time, thinking, letting themselves revel in the comfort of kind touch. 

They were a monster they knew, and how did that old saying even go again? “Better the Devil you know than the one you don’t?” The monster they don’t know is getting help. The monster they didn’t know was Elias. The monster they didn’t know was the headache that came with wanting too much, the ache that was bone deep when they resisted all urges of curiosity.

Better the devil you know.

\-------

Sasha and Jon are close all the time, they usually aren't separated until someone makes them and even then it's hard.

Melanie was getting angry about it, even though she knew why. It was something she almost couldn’t control. Maybe she could, but they didn’t know what was wrong with her. Except Sasha and Jon could. They stared at the bullet that was still lodged into her leg, they could see it through skin and tissue. 

It was a bright red, glowing like their eyes were that day in the hospital. It wasn’t too deep. Sasha and Jon had an idea, humming coming from the Voices throat. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was genuine worry for their friend. Either way, they had a plan.


	38. Edging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: Involuntary Surgery :)
> 
> I'm thankful for every commenter on this work, you guys are the only reason I update as much as a I do! I virtual kiss you on the head XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Drugging Mentions, Surgery but make it Involuntary, Blood, Slaughter thoughts, Betrayal of trust.

Everyone had noticed Melanie was getting worse, like anger began to fester in her legs, and had weakened her sight until all she saw was red beating hearts. Vessels of blood, things that screamed, nothing but creatures to destroy and terrify. It scared her, but at the same time, she could try and get over that anger. That concept terrified her. 

Growing up like she had meant you needed anger, you needed passion and gritted teeth and viciousness. Anger had been a crutch for her, a cloak. To try and get better from this could take away a comforting emotion, something she could lose herself in easily.

She was drinking her tea, it had been late that day. 

Martin and Tim had gone home. Basira was out probably visiting that bitch Elias. She hated him, and Basira pissed her off now, because she talked to him, listened to his idiotic lies. She was angry about everything. Red hot rage about every little thing that went on. Tim angered her by trying to act happy when everything was terrible. Martin angered her by being kind even though she didn’t deserve it. Jon and Sasha angered her because she had no clue what the fuck was happening with them. 

There was no more tea… Her eyes started to droop, and her vision blurred. 

Melanie’s head fell on the desk with a careful thump. In their office, Jon and Sasha let out a breath of relief.

Show time they supposed.

\------

Jon and Sasha had taken a few days to get prepared for what they were going to do. They got sleeping pills and crushed them up with a kitchen mortar and pestle and kept it in a baggie. Then they got something to numb the area that they were going to do surgery on. A scalpel and a few clean rags would have to do the trick to take out the slaughter bullet.

They had slipped it into her tea, the sleeping pill powder. It felt weird, to practically roofie their friend, even if for her own benefit. 

When she had fallen asleep they both let out a breath of relief, she must have been distracted to not notice the taste, or they had done a great job of covering that taste up with creamer.

Sasha and Jon picked her up together, laying her on the cot in document storage. They elevated her calf, and started to practically weave around each other for the surgery on Melanie. Sasha watched as her hand made the incisions, waiting with baited breath to see if Melanie would wake up. She didn't. Jon was cleaning away th blood as Sasha's deft hand cut along farther until they could take the bullet. Jon's gloved hands took it out with a pair of clean medical tweezers.

Jon looked at their passed out friend as he stitched up the wound. Carefully cleaning it, and sighing.

“”She's going to be ok.”” They say together, looking at each other. It was as if they were trying to convince themselves. They cleaned up the rags and got rid of everything, putting a blanket over Melanie. The bullet was cleaned and put in Artifact Storage, while the tags were put into the trash, which they took out to keep the place from smelling like blood. There was a bit of a clinical smell, from the disinfectant spray that they had used.

She was going to kill them. They were resigned to getting hurt if it meant she was ok. 

They went back into the office, going back to reading. They had an average of five statements a day, then they'd feel human again. Just more human. 

They can’t become like Elias. They can’t do that to their friends. 

God they were so hungry. 

\------

Martin and Tim walk into the archives. They regretted leaving Jon and Sasha alone, because they worried you know? Of course when they got back to the archives they didn't expect to see Jon and Sasha bolting to the archives stairs, followed by a slightly slower Melanie who was limping. She had a sharp object, probably the same fork that had stabbed the shit out of Peter Lukas. 

They vaulted up the stairs and flew out of the door, Sasha and Jon were out. The door closes with a loud thud, Melanie screams angrily, getting up the stairs faster than she probably should be able to.

She lets the door close behind her and Tim and Martin are frozen at the bottom of the stairs. What the hell did they just witness?

Tim is the first to start running after them, and Martin only a second after. Jon and Sasha are surprisingly fast as they dash out of the lobby, closely pursued by Melanie. Wow their survival instincts started working. Melanie is yelling at them, there is barely any sense to her anger. What in the world had set her off this time? It was not the first time someone had gotten her wrath but usually she wouldn't follow them out of the archives.

Sasha and Jon look genuinely scared, and they realize that there is a large wound on Jon’s back, like three prongs had gone for the base of his neck. His shirt was slightly torn and large identical gashes were there. They were getting away surprisingly fast, Melanie on their tail. She's favoring her left leg, and she still has the fork. They wonder when the hell Sasha and Jon took a running class because these were some truly crazy speeds. Maybe it was just adrenaline. Actually it was probably that.

“Jesus Melanie!” Tim says, trying to catch up. She doesn’t listen to them, continuing her angry chase. 

Jon and Sasha take a sharp right turn into the road, dodging some cars and getting into a dim alley and when Melanie veers to get them, they’re gone. She stops, breathing hard through her teeth. 

“Melanie what is going on?” Martin asks. This was a lot of things to deal with in the morning. Both him and Tim were huffing out breaths.

She looks at them, looking both pained and pissed, “They fucking drugged me and cut open my leg!”

People are staring at them, the woman with a limp and a bloody fork screaming, and two out of breath men.They give the three of them a wide berth. Tim and Martin are thankful for it though. Martin looks at her confused.

“What?” Tim asks, moving closer cautiously.

Melanie throws the fork to a wall and looks at them breathing, “They drugged my tea and cut into me. I didn't even wake up till this morning!”

Martin and Tim are shocked. That sounded nothing like Sasha and Jon. Why would they ever do that? There had to be something...

“Was there a reason?” Martin asks timidly, almost scared.

Melanie grits her teeth, “When that ghost in India shot me. They got the bullet out.”

Tim walks closer, “I’m sorry Mel.”

This makes her stop and look up at him, looking more tired and scared than anything. Tim hugs her and looks at Martin with a worried face. This was a complicated situation.

“I’ll call Georgie to come get you ok? Let's go back to the Institute.” Martin says. They all walk back, Tim dialling up Georgie.

There is something waiting in the archives, a cane and a container of pain medicine with a note, “From Jon-and-Sasha. We’re sorry Melanie, we hope it helped.”

Melanie looks at the cane and takes it with tears in her eyes. She was conflicted. They had done that against her will, but… she felt different. She felt less mad, less violent. Of course she still felt that boiling underneath but it was softer now, quieter. That call for blood.

The cane is used, and so was the pain medicine.


	39. Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WORKING TITLE: Family :)\

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: Stupitity, Anxiety, Talks about Blood

Jon and Sasha sit on their sitting room floor, the carpet scraping at exposed skin. They’re watching a documentary and tangled together. Jon was watching and sitting normally while Sasha was laid across him and watching the screen upside down, giving quiet corrections and additions to anything that was wrong. Their hands were intertwined, but Jon’s free hand was absently playing with Sasha’s hair.

Their phones had texts, lots of them. Plenty were from Melanie, angry that they would violate her like that. Some from Georgie, her anger hurt them, but no more than it hurt in Uni. Tim and Martin had texted them the most, both angry and worried. They probably shouldn't have cut themselves off, but they were scared.

There is a knock at the door. They both try and pay no attention to it before Jon blinks. Sasha voices their thought, “Melanie’s here?”

They get up cautiously. They hadn’t gone back into work and were starving for statements, but they didn’t want to make Melanie uncomfortable. Now that they thought about it, they had done this very wrong. They were too cowardly to go back after her. Jon healed fast but he had quite the scar from her mighty fork.

Melanie had woken up only ten minutes before Tim and Martin got there and she caught them off guard when she slashed at them. 

Now she was there, at their door, leaning against the wall.

Sasha opens the door a peak, one red eye peeking out. Melanie looks up at them and makes a face.

“Let me in.”

And they do. What else could they do?

\-------

Melanie sits on the floor with them. Her leg mostly healed now. They had done a good job at their back alley surgery attempt, surprisingly. 

“”We’re sorry.”” Is the first thing they say. She looks at them, really looks. She had forgiven them days ago, but the extra apology wasn’t something she’d say no to.

Melanie looks at them and sighs, “I was pissed you know?”

They cringed and nodded. 

“So is everyone else.”

Again they nod, looking like they were ready for her to slash at them again. It hurt. Melanie wasn’t used to feeling bad for being violent, and yet here she was, regretting all the times she had swiped at her friends.

“You need to talk to them all. They’re pissed, but they worry about you two.” She thinks, “Even if you fucked up.”

Sasha and Jon look up at her, and then their eyes move elsewhere, to the table where their phones sat. 

She lets her eyes wander for a bit before focusing on them once more, “I forgive you two... But. You have to walk me through what the hell you were thinking.”

“Of course.” Sasha says, and both her and Jon are looking at her so sincerely she's again reminded of Georgie’s cat.

\-------

That is how they ended up here, rewatching old episodes of Ghost Hunt Uk, eating popcorn. Melanie is eating most of it but Jon and Sasha end up consuming some when Melanie throws it at them. It's spicy popcorn, Melanie’s favorite. Melanie is leaning against Jon, mostly to be annoying.

“That episode was good.” Sasha says for them both, “Most of what you filmed was true by the way.”

Melanie looks at them, “Of course it was! I used to be the best ghost hunter. Fuck you.” It's more playful than angry, and she drops a piece of popcorn into Sasha’s mouth, whose head was in Jon’s lap. Jon was still looking at the TV with his wide eyes.

“Well yeah but more than most ghost hunter shows!” Sasha says and Jon nods along. 

She sticks her tongue out at them, shouldering Jon, jostling him lightly. He looks at her with a heatless glare and sticks his tongue out at her. Sasha giggles and Jon wiggles intentionally to bounce her head around. She playfully pouts at him. Melanie is almost reminded of being a kid again.

She had time to come to terms with what happened. It still wasn’t ok for them to do that, but they helped in some fucked up way. They meant it in the nicest way possible, worrying about her, even if she was pissed they did that without her consent. 

She got a therapist over the week they hid away. Had a few emergency sessions, and learned a bit.

“That pastor is such a sham.” Sasha says, and Melanie snorts.

“Yeah he was a real jerk off scene.” She threw a piece of popcorn at the TV, hitting the vision of the pastor with a deft accuracy. It made them all laugh a little, watching the TV all together. 

““I miss braiding our hair.”” Sasha and Jon say absently, Sasha’s hair was growing awkwardly, and Jons was growing faster than it should be. 

“You’re rocking the floofy top Sash.” Melanie says and Sasha looks almost confused at being referred to by herself, she smiles though.

Jon smiles slightly, “She is.”

Melanie crunches down on a kernel and makes a face but she turns to Jon to, “Yeah, you’re looking a bit awkward though.” She grins, throwing another piece of popcorn at him.

Sasha laughs, “Ouch!”

“Like a middle schooler in their emo phase. But more stressed.” Melanie continues. 

Jon looks gravely offended and in a very serious tone says, “Rude. I would rather die than go back to middle school.”

Melanie snorts at the deadpan expression and nods, “yeah middle school sucked!”

“So did highschool!” Sasha added, wiggling her head so that Jon will keep messing with her hair.

“I was getting to it, stop screaming.” Jon grumbles under his breath, running a hand through the curled mess, “And yeah High School was less than pleasant. I can remember a grand total of three days that were enjoyable.”

“They are all days that you skipped!” Sasha accuses, knowing the memories as if she had experienced them.

“Exactly.” Jon replies sagely.

Melanie lets out a disbelieving huff, “I don’t think I can believe you, Jonathan Sims, ever skipped school.”

“I was a wild child!” He said in his own defense. For a second it was like talking to two people again, so normal that Melanie ached, “You should see the pictures from Uni.”

That made Melanie grin, “Oh I so have, Georgie showed me-”

“Wow! She outed me as an emo kid. Betrayed, I say, betrayed.” Melanie thinks Jon meant to say it, but Sasha’s mouth in the one that was moving, her voice tinging the words. They don’t seem to notice and Melanie lets it go.

Melanie takes a second before pulling out her phone and taking a selfie of all three of them, Sasha’s face upside down, both her and Jon making the same pose. Melanie smiles at her phone for a second.

There's a hand on her shoulder, and Jon looks at her with a soft smile, “We’re glad you came.”

Melanie looks at them and takes a deep breath, “I am too. I got to bully you both.”

This makes Jon and Sasha laugh, and Melanie feels no anger. It was new, but she was working on it. Anger festered, and she had let it feed on her for too long. Life was too short to spend it angry at her friends, to be volatile towards everyone she loved. So she was working on it.

“Though you two weren't what made me give up anger, you helped. So… Thanks.” She finally says, after a few minutes of quiet.

Sasha and Jon look at her sincerely, “”We care about you Melanie.””

“Yeah. I care about you two idiots, sadly.”


	40. Elias Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The working title was just interlude lmao. Sorry!! I've been cosplaying Avatar Jon on Tiktok and my brain went mushy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Eli*s, Creep of a Boss, General unpleasantness that comes with mr Bitchard

Elias watched with annoyance as the Voice and Gaze started to accustomed themselves to their friends. The slaughter mark was fresh on the back of Jon’s neck, near the base. It flashed a dangerous red when Elias cared to Look. Seeing their marks was a rather fun thing for Elias to do really, the scars glowing a soft color that corresponded to a certain fear. 

They went back to the archives, devouring statements like ravenous beasts. Elias rather liked that they did that, seeming more monster than anything. He wished they would read out loud more often though, it was nice to listen to double voices softly reading through statements.

Still it wasn’t about what was nice. It was about becoming a king. 

They were so easy to manipulate, he could See their fears about becoming like him. He wondered how easily it would be to compare them to him. How fast they would break down. Again, not what this plan was for.

Then they went back to the archives, getting chewed out by everyone they knew for performing involuntary surgery. To be honest Elias found it hilarious because they had done it for curiosity just as much as helping their friend. They didn’t even blink at their own curiosity, just accepting it as something that happened to them. Something that came naturally.

They knocked on his door, trying to pry his eyes away. Jon was glaring at the door. Ah the email found them. It was a simple one, talking about unneeded vacation days. Both of them obviously were angry at him. He didn’t really care though.

“Come in!” He calls, sitting in his seat, back straight. 

Jon and Sasha -- or should he say Gaze and Voice?-- stood before him. He should say something about the handholding. It would piss them off, set them both on edge, maybe even bare their teeth.

Sasha and Jon look at him with annoyance clear on their face and Sasha speaks, “What did you want Elias?”

“Just wanted to tell you both that unauthorized vacation days are strictly prohibited. But you both know the rules well enough right?” He keeps his voice calm, and smug. 

The Voice grits her teeth and looks at him with those different colored eyes, “We do know.”

The Gaze is glaring at him, his eyes glowing a little bit, he looks just as angry as the Voice. Elias gives them both a smile,

“Glad we could have this chat! That is all.”

They glare him down, before leaving and he laughs as the door closes, just a slight laugh. Their anger was not foreign to him. He couldn’t wait to either break them when they started the apocalypse, or have their gratitude for showing them their new life. Either was all right with him. He just. Had. To. Wait.

Oh. How peculiar. A delivery.


	41. The Coffin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: Hahah Vore Coffin go brrrr
> 
> Again, to everyone who comments, I wrap you in a warm blanket with some tea. Yall are amazing!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Vore Coffin, Lots of Jumbled Thoughts, Violent Thoughts, Arguments, SWEARS

A delivery was being made, to the Archives. To one Basira Hussain, and to The Voice and Gaze of the Beholding. Breekon carries the coffin as if it were the last nail in his own, a vindictive and sad look on his face. Jon and Sasha wonder why they feel for him, his ache. His loss. The coffin wasn’t anything extraordinary or flashy, just lightly battered wood, old and worn. There was no nameplate or anything, claw marks on the sides and edges, as if someone tried to crawl out.

“The copper is in here. She took him. She killed Hope.” He says slowly, frustrated agony on his face, the coffin drops to the Archives floor with a thud, and the delivery man stands, looking at them from the brim of his cap. Basira looks ready to shoot him, but she can’t, as there are two monsters in her way. If she shot Jon or Sasha, Tim, Martin, Melanie, and Georgie would kill her. She knew that like she knew the sky was blue.

Sasha and Jon creep closer, Breekon stares at them. Green and red eyes center on him, and soon they are close to him. He does not back away, because they don't look malicious, they look forlorn. They look like they understood. 

“We’re sorry for your loss.” The Voice says, and Breekon can see their hands tightening together. They were like him and Hope. Well. Before it all. He looked down at his ring finger, a battered old gold band, and nodded. Ah. They did understand.

“Enjoy your package.” He says, before leaving. His form left through the archives door, the ominous thud and click of it shutting left them in silence for a few minutes. Jon and Sasha look like they are mourning along with him.

Basira looks at the two of them, something dangerous in her eyes, an edge in her voice, “He trapped her in a coffin, the Buried, for weeks. And you comfort him?”

“That wasn’t comfort. Would you like me to tell you I’m glad Daisy is trapped? Would you come up to Jon and let him suffer alone if I was dead? No, you wouldn’t. You don’t understand.” Sasha spits out, uncharacteristically angry. Basira had no right to be heartless to anyone. Her cop partner almost ruined the archival family.

Basira looks at them both with cold hard eyes, “Yeah. I’m glad I don’t understand you two monsters.” And she leaves the room, not wanting to look at the coffin. 

Sasha and Jon look at her receding form, and then each other. They move closer to each other, so very worried. Of course they felt bad for Breekon! Imagine if one of them had been murdered. They knew exactly what it felt like, that fear. Daisy had almost killed Jon, one half of a whole. Sasha would have gutted her, would have done worse than what Breekon did, in any case, even back then she would have gone feral at the loss. Would have made her watch herself suffer. The Voice would have ruined all that was her, and make her own partner watch. The Gaze felt much the same.

They leaned together, trying to keep the other close.

Jon and Sasha also knew how Basira felt, lashing out in anger from her own grief. Losing someone you love is scary, and even if Daisy had been horrible, the idea of being trapped, alone, in the cold hard earth for weeks? Made them both shiver like they had gone into snow barefoot. It was a rancid idea.

Maybe that pity, the empathy was what led to what happened next. Impulsive stupidity. 

\-----

Sasha left Jon to get something, she left for only a moment. She smiles at Tim and Martin and Melanie in the break room. Martin stands up to start making tea, and Sasha waves, before that friendly hand is clutching at her chest. Her heart was pounding as if she were human again. Something is wrong. She feels broken and cut off, like someone had taken a knife to her throat.

Her lungs are threatening to close, and it's terrifying even if she doesn’t need to breathe. Something is closing in on her throat, it is cold and hard and Pressing! It hurts so much! Then it stops, a mere second of reprieve before something even worse took place. It hits her like a truck, a searing pain, and she drops to the floor like a rag doll, onto her knees clutching at her head. It's like when the Stranger was trying to steal her identity except she feels like something snapped. Like the Stranger succeeded.

She gasps for breath. She can’t feel Jon. Of god she can’t find him please no he can’t.

She runs back to the room, followed by a concerned trio of archival assistants. Her legs are going to give out. She can’t feel him, it's like having the left half of her body torn away, and destroyed. She expected to find him dead, she expected to see his corpse.

Instead she saw the coffin. Jon nowhere to be seen. The Voice looks at the coffin, and at the thin air and crumples next to it. When she places her hand over the top, she feels it. He was alive. There was a tentative string connecting them and she held onto it for dear life. She Knows hes down there. Hes trapped. She feels so weak! 

Martin and Tim look at her, and then the coffin, and then her tears. Melanie sits next to her and hugs her tightly, and it's no longer the Voice, but Sasha. Sasha hugs her and cries into Melanie's shoulder. Tim and Martin sit next to the two on the floor. It was easy to see what happened. There was no need to explain. Except there was.

Jon had fallen in, and Sasha could watch the moment replay in her minds eye. 

The question is if he will ever get out. Sasha's red eyes watched over the coffin.

\-----

Jon had changed his mind as he stared into the coffin. He wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t, even if Sasha wasn’t there. So he was going to close the coffin’s lid, and let sleeping dogs lie. Pun not intended. 

Except instead of closing the stupid coffin, he falls in. The lid hits him on the back of the head when he drops it, and he cusses until he feels snapping sharp pain in his lungs, as if his heart was being cut in half with a steel laced string. Oh god no.

He can’t feel Sasha anymore. His other half, he couldn’t feel her. Everything hurt, his head felt empty, he couldn't breath. He tries to claw at dirt, but he's trapped. He is as stuck as Daisy now, all because of a moment of empathy. He wanted to rip his own hair out, but his fingertips hurt. His vocal cords felt raw. Had he been screaming? His tongue and throat tasted like dirt, like minerals he can't even name because hes panicked and cut off from everything.

Why did he try to care for others! It wasn’t even like Daisy would appreciate a monster coming to look for her! He felt like an idiot, unable to do anything without help. Why did he care about everyone too much! He cared about even Daisy and Basira, and they were nothing but terrible to him and Sasha. Why couldn't he turn off the empathy? Compassion was a weakness. He couldn't help being weak though.

God he was trapped. He really needed to start thinking things through. Except he usually did. Or was that Sasha? Did he ever really think for himself?

The Gaze was only Jonathan Sims now, trapped and scared and almost human in a box of dirt, a domain of crushing claustrophobia. Alone.

He cried for a while until he felt a connection of Sasha, a second of her panic instead of his own. This was the first time in a while since he could tell which emotion was whose. They were one. Now they weren't. They were a tentative two, broken in half by a stubbed toe and an open coffin.

Then the connection was gone again and he was weak.

Then he steeled himself, and began to dig. If he was going to see the light again, he wasn't going back up empty-handed, so he was going to find the K9 officer and drag her back up there with him. And if he was trapped... He would rather not be alone. Piercing green eyes stared at the ground.


	42. Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Chapter Title: FRIENDSHIP BITCh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: The Buried, loneliness, general not good from the buried and Sasha-Jon. Thikning about the past

Crawling through the dirt was unpleasant, deeply so actually. Jon struggled to breath, and he thinks a few bones broke from the pressure. The bones mended faster than any normal person's bones should, but they still hurt! Still he followed his gut, hoping he would find a peak of short blond hair, praying he could find the cop, that he wasn’t just going deeper into a lonely prison.

There were moments of true Clarity, when he felt Sasha there with him, could tell that they were still connected, that he wasn’t alone. It was those moments that kept him truly going, deeper and deeper. His eyes glowed though, which provided some kind of reprieve from crushing, punishing, pitch. 

There is dirt under his nails. Were his nail always this long? Would he ever be able to clean them? The dirt felt like it would cloy under the skin forever, he would never be free of the dirt and mud and Choke. 

\--------

Sasha rarely felt well enough to even leave the archives, meaning she was unable to go home. Would it even be home, if she were there alone?

She found herself merely mortal at her desk, reading statements. She started reading statements to the coffin, maybe it was just her reaching, but it made her feel better to think maybe she was helping Jon. 

Sasha didn’t sit by the coffin the whole time. Of course, she slept by it, not moved by the weird groaning it made because it already had a half of her trapped and scared, it did not need to call the anger. Statements by the coffin. The nights that left her there alone, she spent next to the horrible thing, wishing it would spit out the person who had grown to be her other half.

Martin and Tim and Sasha sit in the break room, drinking tea in almost content silence. Her chest hurt more every day, but she couldn’t sit and cry all day. That wouldn’t help anyone, not her or Jon or Daisy. So she sat with Martin and Tim and drank tea.

Maybe it made her think deeper into life, to have something taken away. She was aware of everything. The way the dingy lights reflected off of Martin’s glasses, the way Tim’s hair was slightly frizzy, from him running his hands through it. The feeling of hot tea through her ceramic mug. It all felt like a lot more, like every little moment was important, as if the movie of her life was made of those things.

The movie of her life made of wooden planks holding a domain, warmth seeping through cutlery, warmth radiating from her friends. Melanie brought them all lunch, buying a little extra, just in case. Just in case. 

The uneaten muffin sat next to her, chocolate chip. Jon’s favorite. She sees two mugs at the table. One for a cop, and one for a beloved friend. Just in case.

She ate the strawberry pastry, looking at Tim’s burn scars. She knew he had trouble with rain, and when things were too hot. Hypersensitive skin. She wished that there was something she could do, or could have done, to spare him the pain. Though, if she had tried, Tim would have been deprived of his revenge. 

So instead she makes sure it's not hot in the archives for him. Make sure that he has a coat.

Martin is affected by the long term reign of Peter Lukas. They had dodged that bullet before it happened, even if Martin had wanted to learn what Peter wanted. Martin was just as curious as they were, even if it was hidden beneath corroding people pleasing. She had made sure he always had something to drink when he came in, even if her tea making skills weren't the best.

The Lonely shill was starting to nip at her as well, hungry. She was an easy target at the moment, and maybe that's why she stayed with friends. 

Georgie and Melanie texted her often. Melanie was in everyday of course, but she appreciated the thought.

Basira didn’t talk to her. 

Except they sat by the coffin together, quiet. Listening to groaning. Basira could leave if it got too much, but Sasha stayed. Sasha could not leave her vigil, she felt like she had to be there, ready at any moment.

\---------

Jon feels hopeless. The green tinged dirt was never ending and bringing him less hope, even as he dug until his fingers bled. He crawled and wiggled and writhed. He cried too, until he didn’t have anymore tears to cry, and it just became keening noises. He hated feeling weak, but crying wasn’t a bad thing.

It felt like months, like years down there, and yet it could have only been a few days right? Being trapped there would kill him slowly, cut off from the thing that kept his brain from finally shutting down. It would feed on him. It would feed on Sasha. It would be painful.

He hears something familiar, a voice that he knows, and something in him feels full again, and ready to move towards that.

It must have been luck, his eyes dusty, and vision a bit blurred from prolonged dryness, but he found exactly who he was going to look for in the first place. 

Daisy Tonner. 

She looks at him, with her limited movement. She looks like she could cry, if that were possible from where they were. 

“Jon?”

Jon lets out a disbelieving huff of a laugh, coughing his lungs out, “Yeah it’s me.”

Daisy seems too tired to be confused, “Did you get-” she coughs, hacking like a smoker, “did they throw you down here too?”

Surely, if anyone else was looking, they'd see his cheeks were red, “No. I came down here-” he's cut off by his own throats, sore and scratchy, “to find you.”

“What?” Her voice is so startled that he would do that. That a supposed monster would rick anything to come for the person who hurt them.

Jon laughed, “Yeah. It’s stupid, now we’re both trapped.” He coughs, closing his eyes, leaving them both in complete darkness.

Daisy reaches her hand out, in a slightly uncomfortable angle, and Jon takes it. She needs comfort, he knew. Holding hands was great to show yourself you’re not alone. Jon knew this with all his heart, from his own experience. 

“But- eugh- we’re not alone.” she seemed to have spit out a pebbled between her words and that made them both laugh, albeit a little grimly.

Jon hummed, low and gravelly, “You’re right. Not alone.”

\-------

Basira sits on a chair. Sasha is sitting by the coffin, she looks miserable. Weak and slow. Basira kicks the part of herself that was almost in tune with the hunt, that said to get rid of the threat while it was down. That part of her was slowly dying off, the more time she sat here, watching the display of humanity. They weren’t monsters. They were Jon and Sasha. Sasha and Jon. They were the people who put up with aggression of who they were. They were people who cared so deeplu it hurt. They were two, or at least half of two, that willingly went down to save a woman that hurt them.

Two people who became close, because of work, because of something supernatural. Basira sees herself in that. The more she thinks, the more she could see anyone accidentally setting into this mess, together.

Still she sits with Sasha, her hope slowly dwindling at the silence of the coffin. It has been quiet for a while now, and Basira is so scared for Daisy. She even fears for Jon.

She and Sasha have become, something like friends. It was harder when both of them had butted heads many times. It was hard to apologize. Basira wasn’t used to apologizing.

Sasha had her forehead on the coffin, before standing, and looking at Basira, “I need to read some statements. If you want to leave you can.”

It was an out. Sasha knew people hated listening to her when she read, getting deep into the character, as if reliving the fear herself.

Basira looked at her and smiled tentatively, “No. You aren’t used to recording alone, and I don’t want to go home.”

Sasha looks at her, with piercing red eyes, and smiles just slightly, “Thank you.”

Basira wants to say the same back, but instead she shows appreciation by sitting and listening to her puke her horrors to the wooden hunk of terror that held both of their loved ones. Basira can’t say she enjoyed listening to it, but it was better than being alone.


	43. Bach to life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: Tat boy are back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yw: Buried, cannon tyical bot communicating, general spooks

Jon and Daisy could not tell how many days went by down in the Buried. All they could tell was it was dark, Jon was weak, Daisy was tired. They could not sleep. They both had made peace with the idea that they will die down there, until their fear is dried up and the Choke decides to let them be crushed under everything. 

That is. Until Jon's eyes flashed open. The bright green made an eerie glow in the confined space, and Daisy looked at him confused. Well she tried to. 

Jon wiggled a bit, before letting out a disbelieving laugh, “Sasha!”

Daisy was about to say something before coughing, “What?”

“I hear her! I Know the way out!” Jon sounds positively giddy at this point, his hands shaking with something like relief. There is a sharp intake of breath from Daisy, as Jon grabs her hand tighter.

“We have to go before the connection stops!” Jon is digging and Daisy is trying to as well. He moves faster than she can, her muscles more prone to atrophy than his were, after the long weeks of being down there alone. She follows anyway, using her claw like nails to dig through the earth with Jon. 

Their fingers are scratched up and bloody, from digging through rock and dirt, but also from accidentally clawing each other. They are leaning together as they finally see the dim lights of the archives, but it's like seeing the sun again, burning their eyes.

\-------

It had been a week and a half. Sasha had her hand on the coffin, reading a statement, Basira sits in the corner reading a novel. The coffin begins to shake, and Sasha is unable to notice, stuck in a statement trance. Basira stands up, about to drag Sasha away, but she sees the way Sasha’s hand clutches at the wood like it would save her.

Basira watches in shock as the coffin shakes one last time, before the lid falls to the side, bumped off by a dirty, bloody hand. 

Sasha and Basira watch as Jon and Daisy stand there, leaning on each other. 

Basira comes closer and looks at them both when Daisy smiles slightly, “Hey.”

As soon as Basira takes Daisy, Jon launches himself at Sasha and she laughs, catching him in the tightest hug she could give. They are there for a moment, back together, as one. Except. It feels wrong.

It doesn’t feel bad, honestly Sasha and Jon both feel better than they have the whole time he was trapped, but it wasn’t the same as before. Interchangeable. They still feel like two, not one in two. Their eyes are back to normal, red and green for both of them. Still they feel better, but not the same.

Jon and Sasha don’t stop hugging until Martin and Tim are in the doorway, looking shocked to see them. Daisy and Basira are sitting on the floor, and Daisy is getting patched up. 

Basira looks up at the two hugging, and when Jon looks at her, green and red eyes she smiles tentatively, “You want help bandaging that up?”

She means his hands. Jon is a bit shocked that she's friendlier, but he sees what went on the week and a half he had been down there, he Sees. He could cry at being with Sasha again. Sasha answers for him. 

“Scoot over. I’ll patch him up.” And they do, the first aid kit is being used for the two avatars that emerged.

Jon and Daisy give each other a look and laugh, and laugh more. Sasha can’t help but smile, and Basira watches them with confused but amused eyes. It seems she and Sasha weren’t the only ones who made friends. 

Martin and Tim come into the cramped office, and Jon and Daisy are too overjoyed to be out of there to realize how small the Head Archivists office is. Sasha looks up at them, and Martin and Tim smile so wide at seeing their friend alive. They still did not like Daisy, but they were happy even to see her alive.

Jon’s hand is bandaged, and Daisy is now sitting on a rolly chair. Sasha and Jon don’t let go of each other's hand.

Martin smiles, “I’ll.. Make tea?”

Jon laughs and he gets up and hugs Martin so tightly, for such a small man, the hug lingers just a touch, a soft look thrown up. Then he looks at Tim and hugs him as well, grinning as Tim hugs him back just as tight. Sasha puts a hand on Jon’s shoulder after he finishes throwing himself at his friends. Jon and Sasha look back to see Daisy and Basira, and gesture for them to follow.

“”Lets go to our place.”” Jon and Sasha say, and they laugh again, just happy to be together, to be able to breathe again. 

Tim grins, “Hell yeah!”

“I assume we’re getting takeout?” Martin asks, but it's practically a statement. 

Sasha and Jon look back at Daisy and Basira again, “You two come along to. We’re gonna go get Melanie and Georgie on the way. Then you and Jon can take turns getting a shower. I have extra clothes.”

Jon is already texting Melanie and Georgie that he was out and to be ready for a hang out night, before turning his phone off. They are all smiling, and Jon and Sasha can’t help but think about the pictures they will take. 

\-------

They have polaroids of the night, pictures of everything that made them happy, because it wasn’t a night to discuss what happened. It was a night to be with friends, and make new ones. They would talk about it later, they would talk about it the next day, over breakfast, going over details, dealing with the trauma, Jon and Sasha breaking down in the bathroom because they felt different. Less connected.

There was a polaroid of Georgie kissing Melanie on the cheek, with Tim in the background holding a bottle of wine. Melanie’s pink hair was puffy, and she was grinning, bigger than she had before the bullet.

There was a picture of Georgie demolishing Basira in Mario Kart. Georgie was laughing, eyes glistening with laughter tears, as Basira looked so frustrated she could throw the controller. 

There was a polaroid of Sasha giving Jon a piggyback, and then one of him falling off her back and getting caught by Tim. 

There was one of Martin and Daisy arguing over something, they think it was about guns. It was playful arguing, they were both flushed with wine. In the background you could see Sasha and Jon sticking their tongues out at each other.

There was a picture of Sasha carrying Tim like a bride as he fake swooned, and another one of Martin holding Jon just the same way, where Jon was holding onto his sweater for dear life, even though everyone in the background was laughing. 

Melanie called dibs on one of her, Georgie, Basira, and Sasha all flipping off Jon who was taking the picture. Jon had told them to mind their language. 

Finally, the last Polaroid they took, was taken by Georgie. It was of everyone but she and Melanie asleep on the couch. Basira was at the end, her head leaning on Daisy’s. Daisy was next to her, an arm wrapped around Basira's shoulders. Tim had found a way to lay on the back of the couch, against the wall, and fell asleep there. His chest was Sasha’s pillow.

Jon was lad across Daisy, Sasha, and Martin’s laps. Daisies hand on his calf, holding hands with Sasha in their sleep, and his head on Martin’s lap. Martin had been playing with his hair, and his hand was still lying peacefully on Jon’s head. 

Georgie made sure to get multiple for everyone, one for her and Melanie, who were going to steal the bed for the night, since no one ever used it. One copy for Basira and Daisy, a copy for Martin and Tim, and a copy for Jon and Sasha. 

They would talk about it tomorrow, they would agonize over how everything feels. Tonight though? Tonight they were family.


	44. Thoughts of Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: OHOHOHOH a look into their heads, and a lil spook at the end ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: talks about the buried, talks about the hunt, protectiveness, old injury
> 
> LONG CHAPTER. VV long chapter :DD

The crash did come during breakfast. Jon and Sasha did break down in the bathroom, terrified that they were going to be separate again, but also scared to go back to being one. Being a monster. Still they didn't think being a monster was wrong, they weren’t like Elias. They weren’t.

Daisy got taken to get a recommendation for a physical therapist, for her atrophied muscles, Basira taking her, but smiling at her friends. Their friends.

Melanie and Georgie went back home, to go mull over their life. The Polaroids from the night before covered in tears.

Martin and Tim stayed with Sasha and Jon.

\------

Melanie didn’t remember when she started referring to the archive crew as her family. She remembers one night, thinking about them all, Martin, Tim, Sasha-and-Jon, Daisy, and Basira, with a smile. She had fond memories of them, more than she had of her childhood family. Georgie had asked her what she was smiling about, and Melanie merely gestured to the polaroids on the coffee tables.

“It’s weird! I think of them as family, when only a month ago I was…” She trails off, and Georgie sighs, sitting down next to her.

She hums, “It really is. I remember the night Jon and Sasha came to my apartment, trying to hide from the police, and now here I am. Having regular get togethers with them, and everyone.”

“Do you think they think of us as family?” Melanie asks softly, twirling pink hair in her hands. She remembers cutting it haphazardly in the archives sink one day, when she was really angry. She likes the style though, a mid neck length puffy bob. 

Georgie looks thoughtful, but smiles, confident in the answer she had found, “Yeah. I think they do.”

After the coffin, the archival crew were tighter than ever. Basira and Daisy were friendlier to everyone, the air in the place was just more free. The warmth was enough to battle the lonely chill that threatened to settle only weeks earlier. Melanie felt better, even though she knew the institute was bad. It was hard to separate the Institute from her family, her friends. 

The people she had met in a terrible time and they somehow managed to not kill each other. She hadn’t helped in that aspect though. 

When Melanie thinks back on it, she can laugh. She and Jon-and-Sasha joke about it. Of course, she felt bad about the scar, but Jon had simply touched it carefully and then told her softly that it was a reminder. A reminder to communicate, he and Sasha needed to do that. He thanked her for apologizing. She still had the cane, by her bed, just in case her leg started hurting, even though it never has.

Georgie looks at her with a small smile, moving a piece of her hair out of her face, “I don’t like being involved in real horror stories. But. I do love them all too.”

Melanie looks at Georgie and bonks her forehead against hers, “Yeah. Same.”

Then the moment goes away when Melanie’s phone buzzes, and seconds later, Georgie’s Editing Alarm goes off. Georgie groans, “Another day of sponsors!”

“Good luck with that!” Melanie laughs, “That's the only thing I don’t miss about Youtube.”

\--------

Basira and Daisy are getting back from Daisy’s physical therapy. It's going along faster than it should, and they both know that. It's the Hunt, the thing that nips at their heels like angry dogs. Daisy had missed it, and Basira did too. They sit in Basira’s car, listening to any music that passes the radio.

They are contemplating. It's something they've done quite a bit, when everything is soft and quiet.

When did they stop seeing the institute as a prison, something that chained them, to somewhere that housed things they loved? When did that shift happen? It must have been after the buried, but even then the timeline is wiggly. Basira remembers breakfast with the crew, helping Daisy sit down with them all while Jon and Sasha drink iced coffee while Martin scrunches his nose in disgust. 

Basira can fondly recall the time Georgie threatened to supplex Jon into the ground if he didn’t go take a break, and Sasha had picked him up like a sack of potatoes to the break room. Georgie had earlier bribed Sasha to do this, a twinkle in her eyes.

She remembers lunches where Tim and Melanie argue over Robert Smirke and his spooky categories. She remembers Daisy hopping in, changing the subject to the Archers, turning the whole table into a riot of favorite audio novels. Fighting about favorites. Melanie obviously chose What the Ghost, but Jon and Sasha had shyly offered their favorite being an obscure DND podcast.

Basira liked these memories. The ones she made with these new people, ones that liked her. She can hardly believe they would ever like her, after how she was. Though she supposed that was how all of them were in the beginning, anger and red hot, ready to get out of there at any chance. 

Then they got to know each other. Basira got to know Melanie, the one who overcame her anger, the one who saw a therapist, the one who smiled and joked with friends over past mistakes. The Melanie that threw things like popcorn at people who annoyed her, but also picked up and smiled after.

She got to meet Georgie, who she had no contact with before. The one who held no fear, and loved deeply, even if she didn’t like the spooky business. The Georgie who was not going to let anyone drag her down, and would fight with her words. Basira had quite liked how witty Georgie was.

She got to meet the Martin that quipped right back at her when she was a bit too snappish, but still made her tea. Still made Daisy tea, even after her crimes. Basira got to know Martin, the one that cared so deeply about his friends, and loved hard, but did not let himself be pulled along like cattle. The one that pulled a wicked prank when he wanted to.

She got to meet Tim. Not the one hurt and paranoid and revenge driven. The Tim that was scarred but did all he could to protect those he loved, the one that persisted even when everything was shit, the one that was the first to crack a joke, or offer his jackets. Tim Stoker, the one who flirted with everyone, smiling like the world was good again.

She got to meet Jon and Sasha. Not The Voice and Gaze, but the people behind those monikers. They weren’t the monster she always thought they were. They were like her and Daisy, if it made sense. They were alike in a way. She met Jon and Sasha, the ones who cared so much about people, that they willingly put themselves in danger. She got to meet Sasha and Jon that argued over coffee flavors.

She got to meet the Jon who loved with all his heart, and gave no second thoughts of throwing himself into his friends arms, letting himself be vulnerable even after everything.

Basira met the Sasha who showed her love through banter, the one who brought you food if she noticed you haven't eaten, the one who doesn’t use her powers on those that trust her, those that she loved.

Daisy was much the same, contemplating in this small moment. She was accepted by people she hurt, even if she felt like she didn't deserve it. Even Martin and Tim were warming up to her, no longer scared, but welcoming. After apologizing for everything multiple times. She was accepted, she was loved.

She knew the Jon and Sasha that embraced their horror, that embraced each other. That let her be her, even if she had done terrible things. She was getting better. 

She saw the fear they had, about being hunted again. They weren’t scared of her though, and that hurt her in a way it shouldn't. They cared about her. Jon and her were friends. She and Sasha were friends. Sasha and Jon weren’t making her out to be a monster. They wanted her to be happy. They wanted her to do what would help her. 

They said if she quit the Hunt they would protect her, make it easier for her. If she didn't quit the Hunt they would embrace her, as long as she would have them.

Maybe that was why she needed to protect them all. Melanie was weaker without the slaughter, but she could knock a man out, even then Daisy wanted to be the first line of defense. Martin might win a fight, but he was good at manipulation. Even so she wanted to protect him. Tim could rock someone's shit, but she didn’t want him to add to his scars.

Jon was so small, so easy to hurt. She wanted to protect him. 

Sasha was not a fighter, even if she could. Daisy would protect her.

Daisy would protect her pack.

Basira looked at her, and they both understood. They would take care of each other and those they loved. 

\---------

Martin had found his life hectic even before now. Well, hectic wasn't the word for it, more like weird. He was paranoid before about his CV. He had lived in constant fear of being found out. Before this all he had made friends with new coworkers, had shied away from his prickly boss, even if the flutters of a new crush hit him like a train.

And now here he was, making tea for seven people, and letting said seven people into his life. 

Jon and Sasha and Tim were easy to allow in. He knew them longest and loved them all dearly. 

Basira and Daisy were a different case. With Melanie he had known there was something underneath the anger. With Basira and Daisy it was harder. Daisy had been an antagonist in this poem of their life. She had terrified them all at one point, attacking Jon and Sasha, attacking he and Tim’s apartment, probably in search of them. Basira had been cold, rude, cordial to a point. She always had a hand on her gun, like she was ready to end any of them.

And yet here he was, thinking of them as friends, hell, he had accepted them into his small, small family. This ‘family’ was the best thing he had, the closeness. He liked it. He loved them all, so much.

He noticed the changes, because he notices everything different with people. Daisy was trying, the feral police officer becoming kinder, more tame with them. Basira tried to be less cold, to think about others emotions before saying something.

Martin found he liked his little family, even the new additions. He would care for them all, because that's what he did best wasn't it? Care about people?

They didn’t expect him to care for them though, and maybe that's what made it nicer. The happiness when he brought them something to eat, or made them tea. It was nice.

Tim had a hard time letting go of grudges. He knew this. Though, he was getting better at it. He grew to like Daisy and Basira, loving them as friends. 

He loved his whole archives family. They were a rag tag bunch, a lot of scars and tears with a lot of them. But they were family. They would get through anything together.

\------

Jon and Sasha never thought they would have family. Sasha had always loved her coworkers, but it had been friendship that brought them all together. Jon could not even remember a time when he was as horrible as he had been at first.

Now here they were, with Daisy, Basira, Tim, Martin, Melanie, and even Georgie. They had people, not just each other, though they appreciated the other so much. 

They sat on their couch, close as they could be. They had to deal with being separated again, not completely one person, but two, who can see the other inside and out. That was nice though, being able to tell which thought was whos. Of course this made them think about dependency. 

They were unhealthily dependent, but maybe that was ok, considering their circumstances. That didn’t stop them from wanting to stay there, together. Getting too far away still sent them into a panic. They can’t go to separate buildings, but it was still more space they could handle than before.

Jon let out a soft breath, as his head wandered around thoughts, weaving through them, digging into the center. Sasha was much the same, spaced out. They shared thoughts about everything, feeling that string of connection. 

Jon and Sasha were thinking about their friends. They were also thinking about those irrational thoughts from before the coffin, wanting to kiss Martin and Tim. It was a thought they had often. 

Maybe one day they'd talk to their friends about it. Until then, they'd bask in the new light in the archives, and deal with the still growing hunger.

\------

There is a fight happening in the Head Office of the Magnus Institute. Peter Lukas and Elias Bouchard.

“Peter I think it's time you leave.”

“My pleasure.” The gruff sailor replied, leaving in a mess of lonely smoke, that smells vaguely of cigars.


	45. Elias Interlude!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Talks of murder, El*as, unpleasant things

Elias had taken back over the institute, and no one kicked up a fuss about it, because they did not expect him to stay behind bars long. The archival staff still stayed far away from him, staying in a pack instead of easily manipulatable singles. It had annoyed him to no end.

The new family-ness had been an annoyance, even more so than Peter’s uselessness in the institute. He hadn’t even gotten a hand on Martin, or marking his archivists. All he did was send a few researchers into the Lonely permanently, which meant he had to draw up for employment contracts. More interviews.

If he went down into the archives, there were immediately seven or so sets of eyes on him, watching his every move. This wasn’t unsettling to him at least, but they all seemed to immediately go bloodthirsty when they saw him. He probed their minds passively, just when he was bored, but now there was nothing but malice and the need to protect. 

Elias wondered what he would have to do to get rid of that threat. He could stage a few accidents, but the suspicion would be on him in a matter of seconds. A few archival assistants taking a swan dive off of the roof wouldn’t be too weird. 

He had a few plans, if all else failed. Peter would gladly take a few of them, to forcefully feed his god. Simon would enjoy throwing a few of them to the vast. If anything else, Elias always had the tunnels.

He wondered if this would take longer than he thought. He might need a new body to inhabit, something he had thought about in prison. 

There were a few choices that would work. Martin would be the easiest to corner away from the rest of them, and that would be a real kick in the gut to Jon. Or Tim, which would destroy Sasha. Tim would work, but he was so desolation/stranger touched, it was hardly worth the effort for him. 

He had never tried a female body. Elias wondered how that would go, if he decided to go for Melanie.

He found himself laughing about that idea, it certainly had some dramatic irony. No one in the Institute would even question it, since they don’t know Melanie well enough to pick ehr apart. Of course the archival crew would notice but that was the kicker. They wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. 

If all else failed, if everything kept going behind schedule, he always could switch bodies.


	46. Duet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: Whoopd ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Eye shit, El*as mention, protectiveness, spooky stuff

The archival crew had all decided to go out to karaoke that night, instead of going to the annual holiday party. They would rather die than mingle with anyone outside of their little crew, because everyone else did not understand. These thoughts were probably why no one from the upstairs dared to talk to them, since they refused to socialize.

Karaoke was a better idea than going upstairs to talk to anyone else, and avoiding Elias was always a plus, because they hated him so much. Tim dragged them to this one place, a bar that had a machine up front. He had been there before, not recently of course, but he had been a regular.

The bartenders stopped to ask about him, since he knew them. The rest of them were deciding to go find a booth big enough for eight people. Georgie and Melanie were scouting while Jon, Sasha, and Martin had decided to grab drinks while Tim chatted. Daisy and Basira were scouting for seats as well.

Georgie texted them all a quick, “found seats! Table by the stage xoxo.”

When Jon and Sasha came back with drinks a bit haphazardly in their arms. Martin looked at them fondly, following behind empty handed, because they had refused help carrying the drinks. Tim was not far behind, watching the two of them with a laugh in his eyes. He came up and took a few from them when they made it to the table, and almost made them both jump.

They both glared at Tim, but it was playful. Everyone was drinking what they wanted, enjoying themselves. Martin was nursing something sweet, while Tim was regaling them with something he had found interesting. 

Sasha and Jon were staring each other down, probably having their own little conversation. Melanie was in the middle of some kind of argument with Basira, both of them laughing, even if Basira was more reserved. Daisy, Martin, and Georgie all were quietly drinking and talking. It was very chill before Georgie grins.

“We came here for karaoke!”

Sasha and Jon look up at her, “”We came to get away from archives.””

Georgie rolled her eyes, “Aaaand to do Karaoke. Who's going to go up first?”

Tim wholeheartedly throws his hand up, standing quickly. He was ready to show off now, surrounded by friends. He confidently goes up to the stage and sings Toxic by Britany Spears. Melanie catches a video of it while hiding her snorting. Sasha and Jon were laughing, as was everyone else. He was as extra as he could be, before grinning at the end of his little ‘act.’

“Timothy Stoker you are such a drama queen!” Sasha says, her grin stretching her face. “Bravo!”

Martin went up and sang Hozier, one that they did not expect. They cheered him on through the chorus of The Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene. Martin had been a bit nervous at first but now he was singing his heart out to his friends, not caring about anyone else’s opinion. Daisy wolf whistled at the end and Martin laughed. 

They all clap for him at the end, and Martin did a mock little bow before hiding his face in his drink. Jon and Sasha patted him on the shoulder, Jon making a small comment about how he had a nice voice. Tim leaned in and said something into his ear that made him go red, and made the rest of them chuckle.

Melanie went up and sang Starships, absolutely jamming up on the stage. She had a nice voice, something you probably needed to have a talking channel on youtube. Georgie clapped her hands along, and the group of them, Martin, Daisy, Jon-and-Sasha, Basira, Georgie, and Tim were being the loudest in the joint. Everyone else in the karaoke bar was laughing along, and for a second the eight of them felt like people again.

Then Sasha dragged Jon up there, even though his anxiety was a weighing emotion. He hated getting up in front of people, and hasn’t wanted to since Uni. Georgie was cheering him on, reminding him of his college band, which made the rest of them start to ask questions about that. After that conversation, Sasha had given him the approximate puppy eyes and he gave in. 

They sang Home to You, a song they hadn’t ever heard before but suddenly knew. Jon blinked at the lyrics coming into his head, and Sasha cocked her head, as if listening to it.

As they sang, the group was hyping them up, the place was loud. When they got done they sat down the microphones and walked back to their table hand in hand. 

After Daisy and Basira sang a duet, they all decided it was time to get back home. They were all walking the same way though, except for Melanie and Georgie, who were going to go get themselves some food. 

It was Daisy that first noticed something was off. She could smell it, that change. Her hands flexed as if ready to choke someone, nails seeming more like claws. Basira noticed too, her hand moving slowly to her belt loop, before silently cursing her lack of weapons. Martin and Tim look down at Jon and Sasha, who look both tired and manic. It was the same hungry look they got when they knew someone had a statement, when Naomi first came in. When Melanie had a statement.

They seemed to be on their own hunt. 

Daisy and Basira watched as they both seemed to look in the same direction, at a man walking alone. They were so intent, it was subtle too, how close they were getting to the man. Daisy coud smell his fear radiating off of him like she used to feel from Jon-and-Sasha. Though right now they seemed full Voice and Gaze mode. 

Before they could get any closer, Tim and Martin put a hand on each of their shoulders. There was a second where the world stilled, bated breath, waiting to see if the Voice and Gaze would try and fight the hands that held them back. Basira moved in front of the little circle they had around the two. She made it so that any attempt at leaving would have to be made through her.

Daisy took the back, looking at the man. He was alone. The group stopped and the man looked at the six of them and seemed to walk faster, away from whatever this was. 

Sasha and Jon seemed to break out of whatever was happening in their heads, looking terrified. Their hands clenched, and nails dug into their palms.

“What was that?” Tim asked softly, his hand still on Sasha’s shoulder. Jon and Sasha were still holding hands, tightly.

Sasha answered, “I- I don’t know.”

Then Jon winced so hard you'd think someone slapped him, and then Sasha’s face went sour.

“”It was hunger.”” They said together before Sasha blinks, “We… we were going to get his statement.”

“Have you gone out like this before? To get statements?” Basira asks, her voice is not cold, but calm. She wasn’t accusing them of anything, just softly probing.

“”No! We haven’t! We’ve been good about keeping ourselves in check.”” Martin and Tim look like they know what was going on, Martin rubs Jon’s shoulder softly. Tim does the same with Sasha.

Daisy and Basira were glad Tim and Martin were there, because if not, Basira and Daisy might have let Jon and Sasha get that statement. They felt horrible, but they knew the feeling of Hunger, the emptiness. They might have even helped them get the statement.

Instead the two humans in the group kept them all in check.

“Let's get you both the to Institute ok?”


	47. Hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working chapter: Actually I wrote this while listening to 177
> 
> THAT NEW EPISODE HUH FOLKS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of disordered eating (monster disordered eating), Fear of loved ones, Fear of being evil, El*as is mentioned once or twice I think, Intrusive thoughts sorta

Jon and Sasha had not come out of their office since the morning. They heard their friends coming into work but they didn’t want to go outside. They didn’t want to have to face the fact that they were almost listening to their curiosity, that instinct built in from this line of work. They were embarrassed and ashamed, so they stayed in their office. 

It was their fifth statement that morning and they still felt absolutely Hungry, like the more they ate the more they wanted. The more they needed, it was like eating a cracker when you could smell something home cooked only a room away. Sasha and Jon could go out of their office this second and head to artifact storage and take a statement from one of the people.

Everyone working there had something they could say was a spooky experience. Some of them could give them such a good statement it would be enough for a little bit. Even just a taste of something new and fresh.

And they could do it, nothing could be done against them, because who was going to fire them? No one, that was who. You can’t fire anyone in archives, and maybe not even anyone from Artifacts Storage. There was no one in Artifact Storage who could do a damn thing against them if they so decided to grab a statement. To feed.

Daisy and Basira could stop them, but even then it was a maybe, because this was their domain. The Archives and adjacent rooms were Theirs, they had more power here than any acolyte of the fear gods. They could feed off anyone they so pleased.

They could go for Aaron Riggs, a statement that tasted of the Buried, one that would feed them for a while, they just had to have him tell them. Or maybe Eliza from HR. Her statement smelled like Slaughter, like copper blood. It would be so easy.

It would be so easy.

But they didn’t. They shook themselves of these hellish thoughts and started anew the dry bland statement they had been halfway through, thinking of their friends. Martin would look at them like he had failed. Tim would look at them like they were villains, before doubling down on watching them, he would hurt himself in the end.

Melanie would be so disappointed. She might yell, or she would silently ignore them. Georgie would hear about it and be ready to cut them off immediately. They knew she would. 

Daisy would not be mad at them though. Basira might feel a second of shocking hunger for the Hunt but neither of them would stop them from doing it again. Except they trusted them. They wouldn’t betray that trust. 

So instead they dug through old statements and tried to pick at anything tht might feed their curiosity.

When they finished their seventh one, they felt overwhelmed, like when you accidentally ate too much. 

\--------

Martin walked to the office door. It had been closed for the first time in forever. Sasha and Jon had not come out in hours, six hours to be exact. Martin worried, so he went out and got everyone food, including Jon and Sasha. He knocked, but there was no reaction. There was nothing, not even the sound of papers flipping. Sasha was not reading aloud, and she was not making notes. Jon was messing with the tape recorders buttons out of stress or need for occupation while reading.

When he knocked a few more times with no answer his need to be polite was overridden by his worry, so he opened the door.

Jon was staring, red and green eyes far off. Sasha’s eyes were closed, her mouth slightly ajar. They both looked blank, and yet worried. Martin sat down on the food on the desk and waved a hand in front of their faces.

“Sasha? Jon?”

They did not stir and he remembered the hospital.

“Jon and Sasha, it’s me. Martin.” He got close to them with a bit of apprehension. Martin kept trying to get their attention but did not touch them. He worried just a little about how that might be rude. He tried everything before sighing and standing up straighter.

“Tim! They’re unresponsive again!” he calls, he hears Tim cuss a few times before he hears the rolling chair get moved. Melanie is talking, probably asking something. Daisy and Basira peek into the room, and then Tim walks in, looking at the two in a fugue state again. They both moved the rolling chairs gently away from the desk so they could talk to them face to face. 

“Sasha? Jon? Its us again. Another spooky overwhelming moment. Come on its ok.” Tim said softly. Martin was still a little scared this would stick this time, that they would never come out.

Martin took a breath and gestured to the two of them, “Should we touch them?”

Tim looks a bit conflicted and sighs, “Maybe we can just touch their shoulders. They wouldn't be mad about that.”

Martin carefully put a hand on Sasha’s shoulder, and Tim put a hand on Jon’s, softly shaking them.

Martin had an idea actually, “Jon and Sasha what can you hear?”

There was a second where he thinks it didn't work, “”Martin’s voice.””

He started smiling, they weren’t completely unable to understand. It was like a panic attack, when he had them and shut down as a kid. Martin took a deep breath, keeping himself calm for them. 

“What can you smell?” He was edging around the what can you see for a reason, because Jon’s eyes were still open and gazing off in a mix of emotions, pleasant and not so pleasant. 

“”Tim’s cologne, Daisy’s coffee, Martin’s tea.”” They said slowly, and Martin could see the progress already.

“Good. You two are doing amazing, lets uh. Lets keep going.” Martin’s demeanor was still a bit crackly. “What is something you can feel?”

This made them move something other than their mouths, the hands that weren’t clutching each other slowly moved to their respective person. Sasha’s burnt palm touched his sweater softly, and Jon’s hand was overlaying where Tim’s sat on his shoulder.

“”The chair, our hands.”” and then, “Your sweater.” Sasha said, and Jon spoke at the same time, “Tim’s hand.”

At last Sasha’s eyes opened, and Jon looked like he was in focus. They both looked at them and Martin and Tim gave them encouraging smiles.

“”Thank you.”” They said softly, looking a bit embarrassed.

Neither Tim nor Martin take their hands away, as if scared that the two of them would float away if they let go. Jon and Sasha maneuvered so that their cheek was making contact with each respective hand, their skin felt much too hot.

“No problem.” Martin says. Tim puts his palm up and holds Jon’s face in his hand, and Jon allows this. Martin moves a piece of hair out of Sasha’s face, and she leans into the touch. 

After a second the four of them notice the other three looking in and Sasha gives them a thumbs up, as if to signal it was alright.

“What was that?” Daisy asked worriedly. Basira is watching them curiously.

\-------

After explaining it, Jon and Sasha sit in the break room and suffer through their hunger, sipping tea. They are quiet, very quiet.

Daisy sits in front of them, and they look up at her with a weak smile.

“You’re Hungry.” The H was capitol. They could hear it in her voice. They don’t have the energy to lie to her anyway. She would understand right?

“Yes.”

Daisy nods, humming as she takes this information in, she looks at their tea and then sighs, “Can you tell me… how it feels for you both?”

Sasha and Jon look at eachother and nod, and Sasha answers, “Its like… A headache, or how Jon felt when he first quit cigarettes. Its not all like a withdrawal… It’s like starving. A headache and a pull in our stomach. My eyes start to hurt, and my throat itches with the want to ask a question. Jon starts seeing things that aren’t happening in the room.”

Theres a lull in the conversation and Daisy looks at them with worry, before Jon speaks. 

“How does it feel for you and Basira?”

Daisy knew that Jon asked because if Sasha had she would have had it ripped out of her, “My hands start to hurt, and my teeth ache. Basira’s the same. Got the same stomach pains though.”

Jon and Sasha do not ask if they had hunted, because they had, and they knew that. 

Sasha seems like she cant take the silence anymore, “It hurts so much, but we don’t want to hurt anyone. We’re so scared. What if it kills us Daisy?”

“Do you want my statement?” She asks, after another beat of quiet, “About the buried, before you came and got me?”

Sasha and Jon look like that was the best gift she could give but they shake their head, “No, we don’t want you to relive that. Statement givers have bad dreams about us.”

Daisy shakes her head back, “Melanie stopped having them when she joined.”

This comment makes them stop and think before Daisy starts telling them anyway. They are staring at her but she isn’t scared, because she knows they love her. So she relives this trauma for them, and afterwards they sit with her on the break room couch, one of them on each side to keep her grounded.

“Martin and Tim wont be mad if you two eat.”

“”But what if they are?”” Jon and Sasha say miserably.

Daisy ruffles their hair with both her hands, “I have an idea ok?”

They look up at her, curious, and she tells them her plan. They look so thankful they could cry at the end, but she doesn’t want them to thank her unless it works. So they all sit there in a trio and fall asleep to the distant noise of Tim typing on his computer.


	48. Epiphany

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working title: Someone is gonna get got
> 
> Also I wanted to tell yall that the fic is almost over!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Statements, Feeding, talks of bugs, general spooky stuff

Sasha and Jon left for the day, going to go get a shower and eat something. By eat they meant eat human food. They dropped off at their favorite Indian place and got their favorite food. They were trying hard to not take in any information about the other patrons. They Knew the name of the cashier but did not use it, they forcefully shoved it down. 

They went home and ate food, feeling a bit happier that they got their hunger off their chest. Daisy understood them. They took a shower and then went to watch a show, falling asleep after a while, holding hands and almost awaiting the shared nightmares.

Meanwhile at the institute Daisy and Basira sat together. Daisy shared what Jon and Sasha told her over her late night tea. She and Basira were quiet for a bit, until Daisy introduced her plan.

Basira listened to it. The plan was to find people to give statements, hunt them down she supposed, and convince them to give their statement. The more ‘bad’ people they could find the better. Basira could tell when someone had done something bad, and bringing in criminals might help Jon and Sasha’s conscience. So they got to work.

The next day, there were three new statement givers coming in during lunchtime.

\--------

After the first day of three live statements, Jon and Sasha could barely understand how in the world they could feel this normal. It was strange, how full they felt. It was enough to make that part of them that wanted More to shut up, even for a few days. Sasha and Jon had treated Daisy and Basira to lunch, hugging them tightly. 

Daisy had smiled at their thanks, telling them they would have done the same for her. Basira told them not to tell anyone she had a heart. They had laughed, feeling lighter and happier than they had in awhile. The ever present sick feeling had gone away, their headaches ceased, their stomach stopped feeling tight and resistant to normal human food. 

After that only one a week was enough to make them both feel human again. They were fine the whole week after just a single live statement. It made them feel so free. They of course still read the archived statements, if only just to have that knowledge present in their minds. They were archiving it at a good rate, filing it and making an online catalogue. 

The group had gotten around half the place functional. Martin and Tim and Melanie helped of course, Martin had been helping them cart boxes around and making sure they took breaks. Tim had gotten the online part down well, because Jon and Sasha had a nasty habit of messing the computers up with their involvement with technology. The last library application they tried had glitched out on them, the whole computer letting out a scream at their touch. 

So they didn’t mess with technology often. 

Melanie was still researching. She was amazing at it, finding good bits of information in books and statements. She had practice from her youtube career and they liked when she found something small that they would have not noticed. 

They were going through the written statements easily, and everything was coming together. They stayed less than they used to, being able to walk around without being bombarded by hunger and other people's lives, forcefully shown to them. They weren't able to control it when they were without live statements. 

Nobody said anything to them. Martin and Tim did not look at them like they were monsters when they came from their weekly statement. Melanie didn’t think they were evil, she still cared about them. Georgie didn’t really know that much about the goings on but they were still getting random pictures of the Admiral, so they think they did well enough.

One day they noticed certain statements they couldn't touch without getting headaches, pain if they tried Knowing about the contents of the words within the manilla folder. Jon and Sasha were curious, not to be deterred by pain in their eyes and head as they read onwards through a statement.

When they started reading the headache statements, they started noticing some things clicking together. Their weeks of continuing this theory gave them something challenging to do. It was easier than just staying put. Curiosity was their driving force, the thing that propelled them.

During the times they were pursuing this new lead, they stayed with their friends. Jon and Sasha loved the movie nights with all eight of this group, watching all sorts of shows. From horror, Melanie favorite, to Miazaki movies, Martin’s favorite, they had watched more movies with their friends than they had anything else. 

It was nice to wake up next to their friends, tangled up in limbs knowing you all had to be at work in a few hours but still staying in that big muddle of warmth because you loved the ones who were there. The shared mornings with the other six, Jon making food while Sasha sat on the counter and Melanie trying to add hot sauce to Tim’s eggs, where Georgie and Martin were talking about poetry and Basira and Daisy were waking up to the smell of food.

They loved their family, they loved the normalcy that it produced.

“Did you know the largest moth is the Hercules moth?” Jon said he was sitting next to Martin, who was trying to write something. Sasha hummed next to Jon.

Martin hummed, “Really? How big is it?”

Jon answered quickly, “27 centimeters.”

From across the room, where Tim was playing on his phone he looked up, “Thats a big ass moth!”

Sasha snorts and Melanie looks up from where she was laying her head in Georgie’s lap, “Where's it native to spooky google?”

Jon gestures to the air, “Northern Australia, it's also called the Coscinocera hercules. It’s larvae are baby blue with spike-like growths on the back.”

Daisy looked over, “What’s the most popular kind of dog?” She asked. It was more to see if he would be able to know than her own curiosity.

Sasha watched as Jon spoke for himself. Of course she could talk for him but she had forgotten he had such a nice voice.

“Labrador Retrievers are the most popular breed of dogs.” Jon said, he wasn’t noticing everyone was looking at him, he was having an almost fun time Knowing things, “They’re supposedly good family dogs.”

Sasha hummed, she was second hand learning these things because whatever Jon Knew she did as well.

“What type of cat is the Admiral?” Georgie asked, her and Jon hadn't known the breed before buying him.

“He’s a chantilly tiffany ragdoll mix.” he hummed and was smiling about the Admiral. That cat was the light of his life and that was no joke. 

Georgie searched that up on her phone to read more about him.

Basira decides to throw a question in the ring, “what's the biggest millipede species in the world?”

“The Archispirostreptus gigas, the giant African Millipede. It can get up to 38.5 centimeters.” Jon supplies, humming before cringing.

“Christ that's huge.” Daisy murmurs, “tell us more.”

“Well they can live for up to seven years, it can make an irritating fluid that can be dangerous to the eyes and mouth…”

\--------

Sasha and Jon are sitting on the couch in the dark before suddenly remembering a few statements they had stashed under the bed. They decide that, since they can't sleep, they might as well look through it.

Their eyes glow with excitement when they finally find something very very interesting indeed. They needed to tell the rest of them.


	49. Nails Dug In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Working Title: Getting Got >:)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Death, violence, spooky thoughts, possessive thoughts, General Nonsense, El*as

Sasha and Jon are bright eyed and bushy tailed at three in the morning, and the other six of them are crowded into Tim and Martin’s flat. They are all tired, having gotten a phone call from Jon and Sasha in the middle of the night. They had all rushed to get to Tim and Martin’s flat, where Sasha and Jon had known was closer to everyone, and it was less travelling for all involved. It was only logical.

Sasha and Jon are still vibrating with their excitement, arms full of papers and theories. Finally Tim is ready to listen, not half asleep. Everyone’s attention is on the two of them, standing there holding hands as the others are sitting down trying to fight down sleepy yawns, stretching and waiting for whatever the two of them have gotten into now.

“”We found out something big.”

\--------

Elias Bouchard had it in his mind to get a new body. Of course he knew it might be hard to get Melanie alone, what with all of these archival assistants and the Voice and Gaze watching any moves he makes like hawks ready to swoop. It was cute, how protective they were, because one day they would all turn on them. The Voice and Gaze held out hope for normalcy but they would never get that, not until the day the eye decides to let them die off, or a hunter slits their throats.

Or maybe never, if he got what he wanted. He only needed a few more marks. He needed the Vast, the Lonely, the Flesh, and the Dark. The dark and the flesh were the ones he truly worried about, because Jared Hopworth did not keep track with other avatars, did not maintain any sort of contact with others. He had no favors to pull over on Jared.

He would find a way of course, but he just needed more time. Time was something he had plenty of, if he got a new body. No one was daft enough to try and kill him, and really everyone in the Fear world knew when he had switched it up.

And so the new body. More time. 

He was looking into the archives only to see Melanie alone, exactly what he was hoping for. What a great day for him. She sat there, reading something. She is no longer the most dangerous part of this game. And this was Elias’s home turf, he had all the power here. At least he thinks he does.

“Ms. King, I have paperwork for you to sign up in my office.” He says, no manipulation needed. Honestly after the bullet she was harmless to him. All he would need is another bit of information and she was a mess. Then he won.

Melanie looks up at him, and then flips him off, “No. Fuck off.”

Elias rolls his eyes, “There is paperwork you need to sign.”

The biggest mistake he made was taking his eyes off of his own office. He thinks he is safe there, he thinks he has the advantage. Usually he does, but not today. He looks away from his office and Melanie rolls her eyes again.

“Again. Screw you, old slimy bitch.” But she sets down the book. It was a Smirke book, about his architecture. Melanie does follow him, but he does keep an eye out, since he knows she is likely to swing. He dodged the fist that came flying at him and tuts at Melanie, who still looks agitated. She cracks her knuckles and tries again, before he gives her a look.

“Stop trying that. It won’t get you anywhere, but you know this don’t you?” He says, opening the door to his office. It was like the world had changed.

Daisy and Basira spring into action. Basira knees Elias in the stomach, and Daisy violently throws him to the ground. They both then drag him by the arms back to his seat, Elias is slightly disoriented, but he starts kicking around. The strength of two hunters keeps him held down, and Daisy firmly stomps on his foot. Basira is casually holding him back using the tie around his neck before Tim takes his chance and ties Elias’s hands down to the chair.

Martin watches, looking impassively, it's almost scary to see him sitting there watching with almost no emotion in his face. He pleasantly smiles at Elias, but instead of calm it caused a chill. 

Jon and Sasha close the door, Sasha is looking at Elias with a grin. Jon is staring, but you can see a shine of manic excitement in his eyes. Elias could see something in those two’s eyes, something that might have given him hope. They looked hungry and excited, a terror filled gaze of red and green.

Melanie watches with a grin, she looks positively giddy, “You really thought you could lure one of us away? We’ve been waiting for this Jonah!” She leans against the wall, looking satisfied with her job well done, “being bate was nerve wracking you know.”

Tim stands away from the chair, proud of his tying skills, “Try and get out that double boss. I have years of camping and boy scouts on my side.”

Elias tries to kick away, but Basira stabilizes his chair, “You can’t kill me, we’ve been over this. Is this some desperate plea for attention? Do you think it will solve anything at all?” Honestly he sounds calmer than he should, but he doesn’t know that Jon and Sasha found a little way around that.

Sasha hummed, as if thinking about it, “Nope. We don’t like your attention at least. So Elias, tell us your statement.”

The compulsion worked, and that's when Elias started getting scared. He tells his story about his life, Jonah Magnus and his body hopping. How he was planning to take Melanie's body, his plans for the end of the world, how it failed, and how it would work if he had marked the Archivist with all 14 fears. 

Sasha and Jon drink it in, feeling the fuzziness of their plan fading, they are sure of themselves. 

After he's done, Melanie looks at him, walks close to his chair, and lands a punch directly to his jaw. He hissed in pain and Mel shook her hand with a satisfied noise. 

Elias, Jonah, seems to struggle for straws to grab, “You can’t kill me. Are you sure you’re not just like me? You want the fear, and you want the end of the world. At the end of it, the eye would rule. You would be important.”

Sasha and Jon pause, everyone in the room pauses. Jon and Sasha had thought about, plenty of times when finding out what he wanted, what he planned to do. A part of them purred at the idea of being powerful, or having a meal ready whenever they pleased, to be able to indulge. To be able to protect each other and those around them with the power that came with ruling the world.

Of course they had thought about it, that monstrous side of them wanted it badly, wanted that fear. That monstrous side of them wanted to join Jonah Magnus in the end, to do what they pleased, to have everything at their disposal, universal knowledge of everything was a mighty pull. The idea of keeping their friends with them through this was strong, possessive and completely unavoidable. 

The Watchers Crown would feel amazing, it would look well on the Voice and Gaze.

Their monstrous sides wanted everything they had and more. 

The humanity that kept them there though, it was happy. Content with life now, normal and happy. They had a way to feed their patron, they had their friends, not as possessions but people, and they had each other. What more could they want? 

Its quiet and Jonah almost thinks they're thinking about it before Martin laughs, “For all seeing man Jonah, you’re really stupid.”

Jonah blinks and Tim is laughing too, “You think anyone in this room would be won over by that?”

“Honestly, that was sad.” Daisy says next to his ear, she is smiling in a way that looks like a grin. Jonah tries to use his mind power, trying to make them relive that trauma but Jon looks at him like he was a small child.

Jon walks over to the desk, Sasha staying by the door. He reaches into Jonah's pocket and takes a key, unlocking a drawer, he pulls out contracts. The job title that had Melanie's name written down already, so he wouldn’t have to fight through academia for his spot at the top. Jon takes it and steals a pen from the desk as well, looking smug at the immobile man. 

“We found something out, it doesn’t matter who's at the top of the institute, so long as they belong to the Eye. And you see I used to fight for promotions, looked over. It’s a win win for everyone. Except you Joney Magma.” Sasha says, slipping in the old joke at the end. Jon hands her the contract, and she writes her name, sealing her place as Head of Institute. 

Jon and Sasha are holding hands, and Sasha can almost feel the power shift in the room. Maybe this was why Jonah had always felt holier than thou, the feeling of being above others.

“Sorry for the dramatics.” Jon says to everyone, but mostly to Jonah, “We thought it might be the best way to get you blindsided.”

Jonah is struggling now, but there are ties on arms, and two hunters waiting for if he tried.

“”Go for it.”” Sasha and Jon say to Daisy and Basira, just a touch too maliciously, and the hunters kill Jonah Magnus.

Martin, Tim, Melanie, Jon and Sasha leave the room. Sasha and Jon almost stayed behind to watch, but decided against it. Melanie calls Georgie and is laughing happily, feeling freer. None of them are free of the institute, but the energy suddenly feels less oppressive, the air is clear.

“I’ll be heading home soon G!” Melanie says before looking at them and nodding, she hung up the phone before speaking to them, “See you all Monday. Can’t wait to see you being the boss Sasha.”

Sasha smiles, and Jon squeezes her hand. Jon would still be in the Archives, but they would be alright.

The weight of the day crashes on them, but Sasha and Jon are still rushing on energy, when they make a split decision. 

Still holding hands they turn to Martin and Tim, Jon grabs Martin’s collar and kisses him. Sasha leans into Tim and is still smiling as she presses her lips to his. 

The two of them suddenly feel very bad, consent is important, they know this, so they pull back looking worried. Martin and Tim are dazed, but Tim recovers first, grinning excitedly. Martin looks at all three of them, and a smile grows on his face as well.

Jon is blushing as Martin leans down and gives him a quick kiss on the forehead, and Sasha laughs as Tim gives her an exaggerated kiss on the cheek.

They would talk about this, but right now, they were going to go to Martin and Tim’s flat and go to bed. 

Daisy and Basira have everything taken care of by midnight, the room clean of all evidence and Elias Bouchard is officially missing. It would take a week or so of him being MIA before they looked for the contract of Sasha’s promotion. Daisy and Basira go home, have ice cream in celebration and go to bed, curled together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last "Real" chapter of Double Trouble, the Epilogue will be up tomorrow as per the updating schedule :D


	50. The Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This has been a ride from start to finsh, you all have been so amazing, and kind to me throughout this fanfic. I'm gonna be a little sappy so Trigger Warning for my idiot brain XD
> 
> Yes I'm posting it early becasue I cannot help myself, I just wanted to explode with how happy I was.

The Magnus Institute was over two hundred years old. For years there were many men who ran the place, Head of Institute, Head Directors, many of which were closely resembling the one before them. It had many different sections, such as Research, or HR, or Archives. These sections are now used normally, and when the Magnus Institute was founded it was founded off of the fear of folklore, or horror stories orally passed down.

The newest Head Director was one Sasha James, a woman who worked with the Institute for years, first in Research, then Artifact Storage, and then Archives, finally leading her to the head position. She got this promotion under the mysterious circumstances of Elias Bouchard, the Director before her, being found dead, likely mauled to death though no one knows how.

There are a few more people to talk about. Office rumors are something that keeps everyone away from things that were truly important, and kept monotonous day job desk work from becoming too terrible for all involved.

Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist. He was Head Archivist when Sasha was still an assistant and they are close, bonded at the hip before Sasha got her promotion. He worked in research beforehand, then getting promoted to Head Archivist. The archives were looking better than they had since the beginning of the Institute, filed neatly and kept under control by a strict Head of Department.

Then there was Timothy Stoker, archival assistant. He had been close to the Head of Institute, and is still close with her. He was a man with burn scars that were usually exposed to air, because he was not self conscious. He usually switched up his story about how he got them to newbies that tried to pry. It was pretty funny to see what story he could come up with. No one really knows where he had gotten them though.

There was Martin Blackwood, another archival assistant. He was different than many knew him when he worked in the Library some few years ago. Martin was still the man who made the best tea and was kind, but he had a confidence in him, something you only get after years of knowing what you are doing, of coming out of your shell. He was nice though, sweet when there were required holiday parties. 

(The parties were never Sasha’s idea and she hated them as much as the rest of them, but HR would hate to have them all not socializing and it was a whole Thing.)

Melanie King, a former youtuber who worked as an archival assistant as well, was another person that was known, but not gossiped about. Why she had joined the institute no one would ever know, but she was funny. Melanie had a good persona around people, probably from years of youtuber work. She was well known in the library for tearing through ghost books and finishing them faster than anyone else. They also knew she had a wife, as seen by the ring she kept on a silver chain around her neck.

Daisy ‘Guard Dog’ Tonner was one half of the Head of Security. She was a police officer but quit and joined the institute for some unknown reason. She had also been an archival assistant. There's a pattern in the weird folks who come to the institute. She was a buff woman who had a welsh accent and biting wit. She was funny and had a terrible taste in podcasts. Though Daisy was nice enough, she got rid of threats easily.

Basira Hussain was the other half of the Head of Security. She joined the institute with her partner Daisy after quitting the police force. She was quieter, but when she did talk it was blunt and to the point. She held a no nonsense kind of approach, but it made her good at her job. Though she was never one to try and have small talk with.

Through all of these people you hear about, you hear these seven the most. They were all strange, foreign to many of the 9-5 desk job workers. 

Jonathan Sims and Sasha James were unsettling to be around, especially when they were together. They both had heterochromia, red in one eye, and green in the other, this led many to think they were siblings. But, their eyes weren’t always like that, many people swear, because they would remember if someone always had such weird colored eyes. It seemed like something you wouldn’t forget.

Sasha liked to ask questions, and she remembered everything said to her, and Jonathan Sims had perfected the art of terrifying glares. 

All seven of them were close friends, and some even more than friends, as the office gossip goes. Alice ‘Daisy’ Tonner and Basira Hussain were rumored to be together romantically, but no one really dared pry into their life, they were intimidating people.

The group of them had an air around them, something that spoke of knowledge, of long forged friendships. A shared joke that sounded just slightly off to anyone else. A protectiveness of each other that seemed to be from experience. 

\------

Martin, Tim, and Jon and Sasha got home from the night out with friends. Georgie and Melanie were celebrating adopting another cat together and Basira and Daisy had a successful hunt. It had been all around a perfect night with friends, something that they had a lot more of nowadays. 

The four of them collapse on the couch, in a heap. It had been a fun but tiring night, and they all needed showers. 

Their new flat was nice, those have newer furniture from a thrift store and some cutesy polaroids hanging up from older times, and newer ones as well. The coffee table had four coasters for each person living there, and the kitchen had specialized mugs. It was domestic, living with your other half and your partners.

They all got showers at one point, wearing soft pyjamas, and clothes that are probably not their own. 

Adjusting to life was a little hard, but they were still getting regular weekly statements, and they were all together, as a team and as a family. They had moved in together, they dealt with things as they came, and they powered through anything spooky.

The four of them went to bed, Jon and Sasha hum at the same time. Martin has an arm laid across Jon, meeting Tim’s hand in the middle. 

Jon and Sasha’s pinkies are held tight, and they are at peace. The Gaze and Voice are not the same people they were before, they were not separated, but they weren’t the same person. They lived with this, and they loved it. Martin and Tim loved them as well. Daisy and Basira and Melanie all loved them.

All good things come in pairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its over. Wow, its been what, three months since I first posted this fanfic? Its grown a lot since then, fifty chapters and what seventy thousand words? Its been a great trip, uploading almost everyday for you guys.
> 
> A special thanks to these commenters, cuz without them I don't think this fic would have made it past chapter five 
> 
> Alice Sigurðardóttir, your theories were amazing, and seeing you become an eye avatar XD I was always super happy to see your long comments!!
> 
> PabloSkrems, you're just a really awesome mututal and I love to see that you liked the works coming after the Avatar Jon Series!
> 
> Pirate_Captain_Conan, you're an awesome writer, and I loved getting a comment from you <3 yours usually made me crack up laughing!!
> 
> Silvreyas, you made the funniest comment in the world, your elias hate surpases all others and I adore it XD It made my night and honestly I aspire to be that funny <3
> 
> Another thanks to literaly everyone who commented. You guys make my world go round, and I hope my furture works are just as entertaining as this one. 
> 
> I love yall, and you guys are the best motivator to keep writing. Keep being awesome, and always rememeber that your words are really important. Thank you all so much, I hope to see you again in the future <3


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